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James  Edmund  Scripps,   1835-1906. 

The  founder  of  The  Detroit  News  was  among  the  earliest  to 
recognize  the  possibilities  of  radio  communication;  and  contrib- 
uted funds  for  pioneer  experimentation.  His  son,  William  E. 
Scripps,  vice-president  and  managing  director  of  The  News,  is 
chiefly  responsible  for  the  establishment  and  development  of 
Station  WWJ. 


"WWJ— The  Detroit  News" 


The  History  of  Radiophone 
Broadcasting  by  the  Earliest 
and  Foremost  of  Newspaper 
Stations ;  Together  With 
Information  on  Radio  for 
Amateur  and  Expert. 


by 

The    Radio    Staff 

of 

The    Detroit    News 
\\ 


Published  by 

The  Evening1  News  Association 

Detroit,  Mich. 

1922 


Copyright,   1922 

by 

The  Evening  News  Association 
Detroit,  Mich. 


Officers  of  The  Detroit  News 


WM.   E.   SCRIPPS. 

Vice-President    and 
Managing  Director. 

H.    S.    SCOTT. 
Treaaurer    and   General   Manager. 

C.    BILLINGTON.  GEORGE   E.    MILLER. 

Secretary.  Editor. 


CONTENTS 


The   Growth    of   a    Service 7 

The   Det-oit   News   Orchestra 21 

Broadcasting  Equipment  of  WWJ 24 

Broadcasting  Schedule  of  WWJ 24 

Behind    the    Scenes 26 

The    Farmer    and   WWJ 32 

A   Worthy  Habitation    35 

The    Genesis    of   Radiotelephony 48 

How  to   Make   Receiving   Sets 57 

The    Elementary   Set    58 

The    Intermediate    Set    63 

The   Advanced   Set    69 

A    Simple  Antenna    72 

Problems    of    the  'Amateur 74 

Government  Regulations    78 

Directory  of  Broadcasting   Stations 82 

Glossary   of   Radio   Terms    88 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

James    E.    Scripps Frontispiece 

The    World's    Greatest    Newspaper    Plant 6 

The  Conquest  of  Space   11 

Illustrious    Personages    Heard   Over   WWJ 14-15 

Radio   Staff   of  The    Detroit   News 19 

Executive   Offices   of  WWJ 23 

Operating  Room   of  WWJ 27 

Interior  of  Power  Panel    and   Transmitter. 31 

Laboratory   of   WWJ    37 

Views   of   The  Detroit    News   Building 41-44 

"This    Is    WWJ— The    Detroit    News" 47 

"Hear  ye!   Hear   ye!!   Hear   ye!!!" 49 

The    Detroit    News    Orchestra    53 

News   by   Radio 56 

Perspective  of  a  Crystal  Detector  Set 59 

Perspective   of  an   Intermediate    Set 64 

Schematic   Showing  Hook-up   of   Intermediate    Set 67 

Schematic  Showing  Hook-up  of  Advanced  Set    67 

Diagram  of  a  Simple  Aerial    73 

The  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra   75 

The  University  of  Michigan  Glee  Club 79 

Electrical   Symbols    90-91 


The  Growth  of  a  Service 


THE  DETROIT  NEWS  was  the  first  newspaper  in 
the  world  to  install  a  radio  broadcasting  station,  and 
the  first  to  increase  its  social  usefulness  by  furnishing 
such  a  service  to  the  public.  When  broadcasting  was 
inaugurated  in  the  summer  of  1920,  wireless  telephony, 
although  it  had  reached  a  commercial  stage  and  was 
already  the  hobby  of  a  few  enthusiastic  experimenters, 
still  remained  a  mystery  to  the  community  in  general  and 
was  looked  upon  by  many  as  possibly  a  familiar  source 
of  enjoyment  to  their  grandchildren  but  of  no  particular 
present  importance.  This  sentiment  was  virtually 
changed  overnight  when,  in  August,  1920,  The  Detroit 
News  installed  its  first  transmitting  station  and  com- 
menced its  regular  broadcasting. 

The  original  apparatus  consisted  of  a  De  Forest  Type 
OT-10  transmitter,  using  a  200-wave  length.  Its  range 
was  limited,  being,  under  the  best  of  conditions,  not  more 
than  100  miles;  and  at  the  time  there  were,  approx- 
imately, only  300  operators  receiving  in  the  territory 
covered.  The  transmission  set  was  in  place  ready  for 
operation  on  Aug.  20,  1920,  but  no  announcement  was 
made  to  the  public  until  a  series  of  experimental  con- 
certs had  been  conducted  over  a  period  of  10  days. 
These  concerts  were  enjoyed  by  no  one  save  such  ama- 
teurs as  happened  to  be  listening  in.  Everything  was 
found  to  be  satisfactory,  and  on  Aug.  31,  which  was  pri- 
mary election  day,  it  was  announced  that  the  returns, 
local,  state  and  congressional,  would  be  sent  to  the  public 
that  night  by  means  of  the  radio. 

The  News  on  Wednesday,  Sept.  1,  1920,  carried  the 
following  announcement : 

"The  sending  of  the  election  returns  by  The  Detroit 
News'  radiophone  Tuesday  night  was  fraught  with 
romance  and  must  go  down  in  the  history  of  man's  con- 


8  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

quest  of  the  elements  as  a  gigantic  step  in  his  progress. 
In  the  four  hours  that  the  apparatus,  set  up  in  an  out-of- 
the-way  corner  of  The  News  Building,  was  hissing  and 
whirring  its  message  into  space,  few  realized  that  a 
dream  and  a  prediction  had  come  true.  The  news  of  the 
world  was  being  given  forth  through  this  invisible  trum- 
pet to  the  waiting  crowds  in  the  unseen  market  place." 
It  was  Aug.  31,  then,  which  marked  the  beginning  of 
radiophone  broadcasting  by  the  press  as  a  public  service. 
The  dream  of  actual  vocal  contact  between  points  far 
distant  and  without  any  tangible  physical  union  had  come 
true  on  an  astonishingly  large  scale.  The  public  of  Detroit 
and  its  environs  was  on  that  date  made  to  realize  that 
what  had  been  a  laboratory  curiosity  was  to  become  a 
commonplace  of  everyday  life,  and  that  the  future  held 
extraordinary  developments  which  would  affect  all 
society. 

Every  week  day  since  that  date,  and  latterly  on  Sun- 
days, too,  The  News  has  broadcast  a  program  to  an  ever- 
increasing  audience.  There  has  been  no  interruption  in 
this  service  and  the  programs  have  constantly  become 
more  extensive  and  elaborate. 

At  first  the  concerts  were  confined  entirely  to  phono- 
graph music.  Two  programs  were  broadcast  daily — one 
at  11 :30  a.  m.'and  the  other  at  7  p.  m.- — and  after  a  time, 
speakers  and  singers  were  occasionally  obtained  to  enter- 
tain the  invisible  audience. 

Soon  reports  commenced  coming  in  from  outlying 
communities  that  the  concerts  were  being  successfully 
received  and  enthusiastically  enjoyed.  The  radio  has 
become  such  a  familiar  affair  in  so  short  a  space  of  time 
that  it  seems  odd  to  consider  how  remarkable  this  was 
regarded  at  the  time.  The  thing  from  the  first  held  the 
element  of  magic.  The  local  receiving  set  became  the 
center  of  wondering  interest  in  the  little  suburban  towns. 
The  interest  grew  and  dealers  reported  a  demand  for 
radio  materials. 

Then  the  Steamer  W.  A.  Bradley  reported  through 
the  Marconi  station  at  Ecorse,  near  Detroit  on  the  west, 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SERVICE  9 

that  the  music  of  a  News  concert  had  been  received  on 
the  vessel  as  she  steamed  along  through  the  night  in  the 
middle  of  Lake  St.  Clair.  This,  somehow,  impressed  the 
public  as  even  more  remarkable  than  sending  the  music 
over  land  although,  of  course,  it  was  not.  But  the  notion 
of  a  ship  far  off  from  land  actually  comprehending  the 
words  spoken  and  the  music  played  in  a  little  room  of  a 
building  in  a  great  city  seemed  a  peculiarly  significant 
demonstration  of  the  victory  over  distance  and  darkness. 

During  the  first  week  of  broadcasting  a  party  at  the 
home  of  C.  F.  Hammond,  700  Parker  Avenue,  Detroit, 
danced  to  music  sent  out  by  the  News  apparatus  and 
this  was  considered  the  local  beginning  of  the  social 
aspect  of  wireless  telephony. 

The  man  in  the  street,  traditionally  skeptical,  was 
much  impressed  when,  in  October,  1920,  the  results  of 
the  World  Series  base  ball  contest  between  Cleveland 
and  Brooklyn  were  instantly  sent  out  to  the  waiting  base 
ball  enthusiasts.  The  first  returns  of  a  national  election 
ever  broadcast  were  given  by  The  News  in  November  of 
the  same  year,  when  hundreds  of  partisan  voters  held 
receivers  to  their  ears  and  were  informed  by  the  voice 
through  the  ether  that  Harding  had  rolled  up  an  enor- 
mous majority  over  Cox. 

When  Christmas  season  came  around  in  1920  the 
number  of  radio  amateurs  had  greatly  increased  in 
Detroit  and  the  surrounding  communities.  Small  boys 
were  becoming  enthusiasts  and  Santa  Claus  remembered 
a  great  many  with  receiving  sets,  thus  adding  members 
to  The  News'  radio  family.  Special  holiday  music,  appro- 
priate to  the  season,  was  broadcast. 

On  New  Year's  Day  of  1921  The  News  said : 

"For  the  first  time,  as  far  as  known,  a  human  voice 
singing  a  New  Year's  melody  of  cheer  went  out  across 
uncounted  miles  over  the  invisible  ether  that  is  the 
medium  of  the  wireless  telephone  when  Louis  Colombo, 
Detroit  attorney  and  famous  baritone,  sent  his  resonant 
tones  into  the  mouthpiece  at  the  office  of  The  Detroit 
News  at  midnight,  Friday." 


10  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

And  an  astonishing  achievement  was  considered  to 
have  been  performed  when  those  in  attendance  at  a  ban- 
quet at  the  Masonic  Temple  heard  a  concert  received  at 
the  banquet  hall  by  means  of  a  three-wire  aerial  strung 
along  the  ceiling. 

By  this  time  the  original  transmitting  set  in  the 
News  station  was  found  to  be  inadequate  for  the  increas- 
ing requirements  and  it  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt.  In 
the  following  June  a  two-wire  antenna,  290  feet  in  length, 
was  stretched  between  The  News  Building  and  the  Hotel 
Fort  Shelby.  Soon  reports  began  to  come  in  from  distant 
points  that  The  News'  concerts  were  being  heard  plainly. 
Belleville,  111.,  sent  word  that  the  concerts  were  enjoyed 
there,  and  Atlanta,  Ga.,  delighted  the  News  operators 
by  announcing  that  the  broadcasting  was  carrying  suc- 
cessfully to  that  "distant  place."  Meantime,  The  News' 
receiving  set  was  catching  wireless  telegraph  messages 
from  remote  radio  stations,  including  the  U.  S.  Navy 
station  at  Bordeaux,  France,  and  stations  in  Nauen,  Ger- 
many, Rome  and  Hawaii. 

The  Detroit  News  decided  to  organize  its  programs 
on  a  more  elaborate  scale.  These  had  previously  been 
restricted,  principally  to  phonograph  music  and  news 
bulletins,  but  now  musicians  were  added  and  theatrical 
talent  booked  from  Detroit  playhouses.  The  first  noted 
literary  man  to  send  out  his  compositions  through  the 
ether  to  thousands  of  ear-pieces  was  Edmund  Vance 
Cooke,  the  poet. 

So  it  went  until  the  end  of  1921.  In  December  the 
present  ambitious  program  was  instituted.  By  this  time 
the  radio  department  demanded  the  entire  time  of  a 
radiophone  editor  and  two  technical  men,  which  staff 
has  at  present  grown  to  not  fewer  than  eleven  persons 
regularly  employed,  the  department  being  divided  into 
four  sections — administrative,  editorial,  program  and 
technical.  There  is  a  supervising  editor,  two  reporters, 
a  secretary,  stenographers  as  required,  a  program  di- 
rector and  assistant,  and  a  chief  radio  engineer  and  four 
engineer-operators. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SERVICE 


The  Conquest  of  Space. 
A  few  of  the  remote  points  which  have  heard  WWJ  Broadcasts. 

The  department  occupies  3,003  square  feet  of  floor 
space  on  the  fourth  floor  of  The  News  Building,  divided 
into  editorial  and  executive  offices,  instrument  and  oper- 
ating room,  laboratory,  auditorium  and  producing  studios. 

Today  phonograph  music  occupies  an  incidental  place 
on  the  daily  schedule  and  the  programs  are  filled  by  city, 
state  and  national  celebrities,  prominent  clergymen,  vocal 
and  ^instrumental  artists,  and  public  figures.  When  the 


12  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

little  microphone  stood  in  the  presence  of  Madame  Emma 
Calve  recently,  she  sang  to  the  greatest  audience  of  her 
life — over  WWJ.  When  Lillian  and  Dorothy  Gish  and 
David  W.  Griffith  came  to  the  News  phonitorium  to 
talk  intimately  with  the  radio  family,  Lillian  remarked, 
"Oh,  this  is  as  nice  as  the  nicest  movie  studio."  When 
Sir  Philip  Gibbs,  the  famous  war  correspondent,  talked 
to  the  continent  at  this  station,  he  marveled.  "In  Eng- 
land," he  said,  "the  radiophone  has  not  even  begun  to 
develop  as  such  a  magnificent  social  service." 

Another  point  in  the  program  expansion  of  December, 
1921,  was  the  procuring  of  Finzel's  Orchestra  and  other 
musical  organizations  with  numerous  members.  These 
orchestras  furnish  varied  numbers,  including  dance 
music,  by  radio,  and  it  became  common  for  Detroiters  to 
hold  parties  in  their  homes  and  step  to  their  favorite 
orchestras.  The  second  Christmas  concert  presented  by 
The  News,  Dec.  24,  1922,  included  songs  by  carolers  and 
addresses  by  Alex.  J.  Groesbeck,  Governor  of  Michigan ; 
James  Couzens,  Mayor  of  Detroit,  and  the  Rt.  Rev.  Fr. 
John  P.  McNichols,  president  of  the  University  of 
Detroit.  A  feature  of  the  Christmas  Eve  service  was  the 
broadcasting  of  the  music  played  by  the  chimes  in  the 
steeple  of  the  Fort  Street  Presbyterian  Church,  located 
across  the  street  from  The  News  Building. 

In  February,  1922,  The  News  first  broadcast  a  concert 
by  the  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra.  Thereafter  every 
program  presented  by  that  splendid  organization  was 
sent  to  music  lovers,  not  only  in  Detroit  but  over  half  of 
the  North  American  continent.  Expressions  of  enthusias- 
tic appreciation  from  persons  in  all  walks  of  life  have  fol- 
lowed this  development  of  The  News'  radio  service. 
Contributions  for  the  support  of  the  orchestra  have  come 
from  grateful  people  in  a  score  of  states,  and  even  in 
Cuba,  who  have  thus  been  enabled  to  hear  finer  music 
and  better  played  than  could  ever  be  heard  in  the  small 
towns  where  they  make  their  residences.  The  radio- 
phone has  opened  new  worlds  of  appreciation  to  music- 
hungry  folk. 


THE  GROWTH  OF  A  SERVICE  13 

Since  the  beginning  of  1922,  The  News  has  been  able 
to  provide  its  audience  with  an  impressive  array^  of 
diversified  numbers,  undreamed  of  in  the  early  days  of 
broadcasting.  The  eminent  Shakespearean  artists,  Ed- 
ward H.  Sothern  and  his  wife,  Julia  Marlowe,  gave  their 
classical  interpretations  over  this  radiophone  during  one 
of  their  engagements  in  Detroit.  Walter  Hampden,  the 
new  Shakespearean  star,  did  likewise.  Among  the  other 
noted  actors  who  made  their  radio  debut  in  the  News 
transmitting  studio  are  Frank  Tinney,  Van  and  Schenk, 
Lew  Fields,  Will  Rogers  and  Percy  Wenrich. 

During  Lent,  1922,  the  leading  clergymen  of  all  de- 
nominations provided  sermons  as  a  feature  of  every 
evening  program.  The  Rt.  Rev.  Michael  J.  Gallagher, 
Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  Detroit ;  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Charles  D.  Williams,  Episcopal  Bishop,  and 
Bishop  Theodore  S.  Henderson,  of  the  Methodist 
Church,  are  among  the  divines  who  have  made  addresses. 

In  that  Easter  season,  The  News  entered  into  arrange- 
ments with  St.  Paul's  Episcopal  Cathedral,  whereby  the 
radio  public  enjoyed  the  Easter  Cantata  sung  in  that 
church  on  Palm  Sunday,  and  heard  the  Cathedral's 
morning  and  evening  services  on  Easter  Day.  Thus  the 
Cathedral  was  no  longer  one  merely  of  stone  of  archi- 
tectural dimensions,  but  one  whose  mystic  walls  en- 
compassed most  of  the  continent.  Cathedral  services 
were  thereafter  regularly  broadcast. 

University  extension,  early  in  1922,  became  a  part  of 
the  function  of  this  station.  Speakers  have  been  listed 
from  the  University  of  Michigan  at  Ann  Arbor  and  the 
Michigan  Agricultural  College  at  Lansing,  including  ad- 
ministrative and  executive  heads  and  numerous  members 
of  the  faculties. 

The  cap-sheaf  was  added,  however,  when,  on  May  28. 
1922,  The  Detroit  News  Orchestra  appeared  for  the  first 
time  in  the  studio.  This,  the  first  radio  orchestra  ever 
organized,  is  a  16-piece  symphonic  ensemble,  composed 
of  soloists  of  note.  Its  members  were  drawn  almost 
exclusively  from  the  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra,  but 


11 


I 


Some  Illustrious  Personages  Heard  Over  WWJ. 


I 


Some  Illustrious  Personages  Heard  Over  WWJ. 


16  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

are  representative  of  a  dozen  of  the  greatest  orchestras 
of  the  United  States,  with  which  they  have  been  con- 
nected. 

One  of  the  most  notable  early  achievements  of  the 
News  radio  was  the  discovery  of  a  lost  boy  and  his  sub- 
sequent return  to  his  home.  The  lad  was  Albino  Tan- 
ner Fleming,  13-year-old  adopted  son  of  William  Flem- 
ing. The  boy  left  home,  with  St.  Louis  as  his  destina- 
tion, but  his  foster  father  succeeded  in  locating  him  over 
the  radio,  after  fruitless  communication  with  the  police 
of  many  cities  for  many  days.  He  was  found  in  Toledo. 
An  amateur  operator  in  that  city  gave  the  boy's  descrip- 
tion to  the  matron  of  the  juvenile  detention  home,  who 
at  once  identified  one  of  her  charges  as  the  missing  boy. 
A  few  weeks  later  this  incident  was  paralleled  in  almost 
every  detail. 

The  News  then  offered  Mayor  James  Couzens,  of 
Detroit,  and  the  state,  the  co-operation  of  its  transmit- 
ting station,  in  the  tracking  of  criminals,  the  suppression 
of  crime,  and  recovery  of  stolen  property.  This  offer 
has  been  accepted  and  Station  WWJ  now  "stands  by" 
for  any  such  service  called  for. 

Special  equipment  has  been  installed  for  receipt  and 
transmission  of  time  signals  from  the  Government  sta- 
tion at  Arlington,  near  Washington.  These  are  sent  out 
daily  from  11:52  a.  m.  to  12:00  noon,  thereby  enabling 
operators  throughout  the  entire  field  covered  by  the 
News  transmitter  to  synchronize  their  time  pieces  with 
the  Government  chronometer  at  Washington. 

In  addition  to  broadcasting,  The  News  has  spon- 
sored the  Detroit  Radio  Association,  an  organization 
which  has  already  done  much  to  stimulate  interest  in 
wireless  telephony  and  tc,  disseminate  useful  informa- 
tion to  radio  enthusiasts.  For  several  months  lectures 
were  given  before  members,  in  the  studio  on  Saturdays, 
by  men  from  the  technical  department,  and  these  proved 
exceedingly  valuable  to  amateurs. 

A  striking  example  of  the  radio's  potentiality  as  a 
disseminator  of  news  was  furnished  in  March,  1922, 


T.HE  GROWTH  OF  A  SERVICE  17 

when  a  great  sleet  storm  struck  down  the  wires  all  over 
lower  Michigan  and  southern  Ontario.  Papers  in  the 
southern  part  of  the  state  were  entirely  cut  off  from 
the  service  of  the  Associated  Press,  the  great  news 
gathering  organization,  and  other  agencies  on  which 
they  depend  for  their  news  of  the  world.  Many  were 
able,  however,  to  print  their  bulletins  without  interrup- 
tion, for  the  news  was  broadcast  by  Station  WWJ. 
Amateurs  in  several  cities  conveyed  the  reports  to  news- 
papers entitled  to  them,  and  others  loaned  the  use  of  in- 
struments, stenographers  transcribing  the  news  for  pub- 
lication. 

Since  the  present  enlarged  service  program  was  in- 
stituted, The  News  has  received  letters  from  Honduras, 
from  Saskatchewan  and  Alberta  and  Nova  Scotia ;  from 
Cuba,  the  Canal  Zone,  and  Porto  Rico ;  from  a  lonely 
ranchman  in  Wyoming  and  from  scores  of  other  remote 
places,  expressing  thanks  to  The  Detroit  News  for  bring- 
ing across  the  great  spaces  splendid  music,  first-class 
theatrical  entertainments  and  rousing  and  stimulating 
messages  from  the  leaders  of  the  country's  thought. 
Letters  tell  also  of  a  mother  in  Nebraska  hearing  her  son, 
a  minister,  preach  in  Detroit;  of  a  girl  in  Los  Angeles 
hearing  her  brother  play  on  the  violin  at  The  News' 
studio. 

All  this  has  been  extremely  gratifying  to  the  publish- 
ers and  has  persuaded  them  that  enhanced  public  useful- 
ness is  the  ample  justification  for  the  great  expenditure 
which  the  radio  service  has  entailed. 

A  curious  thing  in  connection  with  the  broadcasting 
has  been  the  reaction  of  stage  artists  to  the  undemon- 
strative bronze  device  into  which  they  pour  their  songs 
and  remarks.  Frank  Tinney  refused  to  believe  that  he 
was  not  the  victim  of  a  hoax.  He  feared  he  was  in  real- 
ity talking  for  the  sole  entertainment  of  practical  jokers 
in  the  private  room  where  the  microphone  of  the  trans- 
mitting apparatus  was  located,  until  he  heard  music 
relayed  back  by  telephone  from  Windsor,  Ont.,  across 
the  river.  Embarrassment,  even  acute  "stage  fright," 


18  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

has  been  noticed  in  the  case  of  almost  every  individual 
who  is  accustomed  to  applause  as  occasional  motive 
power. 

The  News  on  Dec.  18,  1921,  commented  on  this  as 
follows : 

"The  receiver  is  not  a  very  appreciative  instrument, 
at  least  in  appearance.  One  can't  tell  from  the  looks 
of  the  microphone  whether  his  number  is  liked  or  not. 

"This  was  quite  baffling  to  Ernie  Ball.  He  sang  one 
or  two  of  his  most  popular  numbers,  heard  no  applause 
and  finally  looked  at  the  telephone  in  a  manner  that 
registered  blind  rage.  And  then  he  stuck  out  his  tongue 
at  the  instrument,  which  seemed  to  relieve  his  feelings  a 
lot,  for  he  swung  immediately  into  another  selection." 

The  growth  of  the  Detroit  News  station  has  been 
along  two  lines — a  development  of  equipment  and  a  de- 
velopment in  social  service.  It  was  on  the  first  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1922,  that  the  installation  of  the  present  power- 
ful instruments  for  a  continent-wide  service  was  com- 
pleted. They  were  built  to  the  special  order  of  The 
News. 

Under  the  very  worst  of  conditions — such  as  a  severe 
electric  storm — the  station  will  transmit  100  miles  and 
it  has  been  known  to  send  4,300  miles  on  a  still  winter's 
night.  On  the  whole,  the  winter  is  a  better  time  for 
successful  broadcasting  than  the  summer,  for  then  the 
atmosphere  is  less  liable  to  static  disturbances. 

Amateurs  who  "listen  in"  on  the  News  program  are 
provided  with  either  of  two  sorts  of  receiving  sets. 
These  are  the  tube  detector  set,  which  will  receive  at 
great  distances,  and  the  crystal  detector  set,  whose  range 
is  not  so  great.  The  crystal  sets  have  been  known  to 
accomplish  successful  results  at  a  distance  of  several 
hundred  miles,  but  most  small  sets  have  a  very  limited 
scope  and  the  amateur  must  not  expect  the  ordinary 
crystal  set  to  operate  at  anything  over  75  miles.  Some 
sets  are  now  being  manufactured,  tuned  permanently  to 


20  ;        WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

the  News  station,  with  fixed  detectors,  and  guaranteed 
to  receive  programs  clearly  from  10  to  20  miles. 

Of  late  The  News  has  devoted  many  of  its  columns  to 
radio  activities,  satisfying  an  intense  interest  in  the  new 
science  throughout  its  field  of  circulation,  through  the 
printed  page  as  well  as  the  ether.  The  radio  writers 
furnish  the  reader  with  a  great  deal  of  diversified  in- 
formation of  scientific  value,  in  addition  to  "human-in- 
terest" news.  This  radio  department  is  a  daily  feature, 
and  for  the  Sunday  edition  a  weekly  survey  of  the  radio 
situation  is  prepared,  dealing  more  elaborately  with  the 
subject  and  devoting  considerable  space  to  simplified 
scientific  discussions  of  broadcasting  and  receiving. 

WWJ's  programs  for  the  ensuing  week  are  printed 
each  Sunday,  and  every  day  during  the  week  The  News 
carries  the  programs  for  two  days  in  advance. 

The  editorial  staff  of  The  Detroit  News  contributes 
both  meat  and  sauce  to  the  varied  programs  of  WWJ, 
and  these  contributions  are  printed  daily  in  the  news- 
paper. 

Perhaps  the  most  popular  feature  of  the  programs,  at 
least  until  the  organization  of  The  Detroit  News  Orches- 
tra, was  the  Town  Crier.  At  first  he  held  to  the  tradi- 
tions of  bellmen,  and  gave  a  nightly  digest  of  the  day's 
news,  with  running  comment.  His  whimsicality  was  so 
appealing  that  fancy  ultimately  took  precedence  over  fact. 
The  anonymity  which  at  first  characterized  the  Town 
Crier  could  not  be  maintained.  He  is  Al  Weeks,  dra- 
matic critic  of  The  News,  and,  betimes,  dramatist  and 
actor  as  well  as  wag. 

The  Town  Crier's  accoutrements  have  an  interesting 
past.  One  bell  that  sounds  over  the  radio  was  used  by 
the  Toronto  schoolmaster,  Alexander  Muir,  beloved  by 
Canadians  as  the  author  of  their  national  anthem,  "The 
Maple  Leaf  Forever."  Another,  still  bearing  the  mud 
and  stains  of  an  Argonne  battlefield,  served  a  French 
town  crier  in  the  days  before  the  war. 

Others  whose  offerings  over  the  radio  are  highly 
valued  are  Miss  Florence  Davies,  who  chats  helpfully 


THE  DETROIT  NEWS  ORCHESTRA  21 

with  housewives  each  morning,  and   Leland  Bell,  who 
gives  courses  in  physical  training  for  women. 

The  ever  increasing  radio  family  of  WWJ  may  be 
assured  The  Detroit  News  will  keep  abreast  of  inven- 
tion and  thought  to  the  end  that  the  public  may  profit 
to  the  utmost  during  the  future  growth  of  this  science. 


The    Detroit    News    Orchestra 

THE  Detroit  News  Orchestra,  the  first  radio  orchestra 
ever  organized,  is  a  16-piece  symphonic  ensemble, 
all  of  whose  members  have  achieved  distinction  with  the 
Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra  under  the  baton  of  the 
great  pianist-conductor,  Ossip  Gabrilowitsch,  or  with 
other  famous  musical  organizations.  Each  is  an  accom- 
plished soloist  who  will  contribute  to  the  quality  of  the 
radio  programs  of  The  Detroit  News  by  individual  num- 
bers, as  well  as  in  concert. 

This  "little  symphony"  will  serve  those  who  listen  in 
on  WWJ  nightly,  and  will,  in  addition,  be  loaned  from 
time  to  time  in  the  interests  of  musical  appreciation  to 
churches,  educational  institutions  and  other  non-com- 
mercial organizations  for  recitals.  For  all  of  its  superla- 
tive capacity  in  any  realm  of  music,  the  orchestra  will 
not  be  of  the  ultra-classical  type,  nor  will  it  scorn  the 
harmonies  and  melodies  which  the  general  public  fondlv 
cherishes. 

Following  is  the  personnel  of  the  ensemble : 
Otto  E.  Krueger,  conductor;  organizer  of  many  mu- 
sical ensembles ;  flautist  with  Detroit  Symphony  Orches- 
tra for  the  past  five  years. 

Maurice  Warner,  concertmeister ;  member  of  New 
York  Symphony  Orchestra  on  European  tour,  and  solo- 
ist throughout  United  States  and  Canada;  first  violin, 
Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra. 


22  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

Herman  Goldstein,  first  violin ;  soloist  and  member  of 
Boston  and  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestras. 

LeRoy  Hancock,  first  violin ;  member  of  Cincinnati, 
St.  Paul  and  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestras. 

Armand  Hebert,  second  violin;  concert  soloist  and 
member  of  Seattle  Symphony  Orchestra. 

V.  P.  Coffey,  viola  and  piano ;  composer  and  member 
of  Cincinnati,  Philadelphia  and  Detroit  Symphony 
Orchestras. 

Frederick  Breeder,  cello ;  member  of  Cincinnati,  St. 
Paul  and  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestras  and  Russian 
Ballet  Orchestra. 

Eugene  W.  Braunsdorf,  bass ;  soloist  with  many 
concert  organizations ;  member  of  Detroit  Symphony 
Orchestra  for  five  years. 

Thomas  J.  Byrne,  oboe ;  soloist  with  many  concert 
organizations ;  member  of  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra 
for  five  years. 

R.  M.  Arey,  clarinet;  Boston  Festival  Orchestra, 
Boston  Opera  Company,  soloist  with  Boston  Municipal 
Orchestra ;  solo-clarinetist  of  Detroit  Symphony  Orches- 
tra. 

Vincenzo  Pezzi,  bassoon ;  member  of  St.  Paul,  Minn- 
eapolis and  Detroit  Symphony  Orchestras. 

Albert  Stagliamo,  French  horn ;  soloist  with  many 
concert  organizations ;  solo-hornist  of  Detroit  Symphony 
Orchestra. 

Edward  Clarke,  French  horn ;  with  many  concert 
organizations. 

Floyd  O'Hara,  trumpet ;  concert  soloist ;  member  of 
Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra  for  five  years. 

Max  Smith,  trombone;  concert  soloist;  member  of 
Cincinnati  Symphony  Orchestra  and  solo-trombonist  of 
Detroit  Symphony  Orchestra. 

Arthur  Cooper,  xylophone  and  percussion  instru- 
ments; concert  soloist;  first  percussionist  of  Detroit 
Symphony  Orchestra. 


24  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


Broadcasting   Equipment    of   WWJ 

HPHE  DETROIT  NEWS  Radio  Broadcasting  Station 
-••  (WWJ)  has  apparatus  as  follows,  made  by  the  West- 
ern Electric  Company: 

1.  A  set  of  microphones  of  special  design   (double 
carbon  button)  to  transform  sound  into  electrical  energy. 

2.  A  speech-current  amplifier  (Type  A)  to  increase 
the  power  of   the   microphone-output   ready   for   trans- 
mitter. 

3.  A  radio  transmitter  (Type  1-A)   including  a  50- 
watt  vacuum  tube  speech  input  amplifier  and  four  250- 
watt  vacuum  tubes,  two  as  oscillators  and  two  as  mod- 
ulators— the  whole  to  further  the  energy  and  transfer  it 
to  the  antenna. 

4.  A  Sy2  H.  P.  motor,  driving  a  1600-volt,  1.8-kilo- 
watt  plate  current-generator  and  a  16- volt,  615-watt  fila- 
ment current-generator,  providing  power  for  transmitter's 
tubes. 

5.  A  series  of  dry  cells  of  130  volts  and  storage  bat- 
tery of  12  volts  providing  power  for  tubes  of  the  speech- 
.current  amplifier. 

6.  A  monitoring  loud  speaker  (196  W)  for  regulating 
performers  and  amplifiers. 

7.  An  antenna  of  4  wires  each  250  feet  (T  type). 
Normally  this  transmitter  has  an  input  to  its  antenna 

of  500  watts,  giving  about  7  amperes  to  the  entertainment 
and  news  waves  of  360  meters,  and  about  11  amperes  to 
the  weather  waves  of  485  meters  for  Government  reports. 


Broadcasting  Schedule  of  WWJ 

IN  MAY,  1922,  the  following  schedule  for  WWJ— The 
Detroit  News — was  established,  subject,  of  course,  to 
alteration  under  changing  Governmental  regulations; 


BROADCASTING  SCHEDULE  OF  WWJ  25 

Week  Days. 

9:30  to  9:40  a.  m. — Hints  to  housewives. 

9:40  to  10:15  a.  m. — Music  reproduced. 

10:15  to  10:30  a.  m.— Weather  report. 

11 :52  a.  m.  to  12  :00  noon — U.  S.  Naval  Observatory  time 

signals. 

12:05  to  12:45  p.  m. — Music  reproduced. 
3  :30  to  3 :40  p.  m. — Weather  report. 
3  :40  to  4:15  p.  m. — Market  quotations. 
5:00  to  6:00  p.  m. — Complete  base  ball  scores,  additional 

markets,  and  special  features  as  announced. 

Week  Nights. 

For  alternate  weeks,  including  the  weeks  of  May  28, 
June  11,  June  25,  July  9,  and  continuing  thus: 

7:00  to  8:30  p.  m. — Entertainment  and  edification  by 

musicians  and  speakers. 

For  alternate  weeks,  including  the  weeks  of  May  21, 
June  4,  June  18,  July  2,  and  continuing  thu.- : 

8:30  to  10:00  p.  m. — Entertainment  and  edification  by 
musicians  and  speakers. 

Sundays. 

Alternate  Sundays,  including  May  28,  June  11,  June 
28,  July  9,  etc. : 

9 :30  a.  m.  to  2 :06  p.  m. — Church  services  and  special 
programs. 

4:00  p.  m.  to  6:00  p.  m. — Special  programs. 

Alternate  Sundays,  including  June  4,  June  18,  July  2, 
etc.: 

2:00  to  4:00  p.  m. — Special  programs. 

6:00  to  10:00  p.  m. — Church  services  and  special  pro- 
grams. 

Note:  Weather  and  all  other  Government  reports  are 
broadcast  on  485  meters ;  everything  else  is  on  360 
meters.  All  special  programs  are  announced,  both  as 
to  time  and  character,  in  the  columns  of  The  News,  and 
by  radiotelephone. 


Behind  the   Scenes 


THE  public,  grown  familiar  with  at  least  the  superficial 
aspects  of  radio-reception,  is  still  largely  in  ignor- 
ance of  the  conditions  under  which  broadcasting  is  ac- 
complished. From  the  standpoint  of  the  performer, 
sending  is  as  simple  as  it  is,  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
scientist,  complex.  The  very  informality  of  broadcast- 
ing, in  contrast  with  its  incalculable  importance,  startles 
and  embarrasses  artist  and  speaker. 

Those  who  wish  to  appear  on  WWJ's  program  make 
their  first  acquaintance  with  the  program  director  or 
his  assistant  in  the  "booking  office,"  which  is  a  part  of 
the  executive  suite — and  one  of  nine  rooms  devoted  to 
the  radio  department.  If  their  merits  are  unknown  to 
the  director,  entertainers  are  given  an  opportunity  to  re- 
veal their  talent  in  the  studios,  under  conditions  prevail- 
ing during  transmisson.  If  successful,  they  are  received 
the  evening  of  their  scheduled  appearance  in  the  audi- 
torium, a  spacious  room  between  the  operating  rooms 
and  the  studios,  and  await  their  turn,  with  others  on  the 
program. 

The  auditorium  is  equipped  with  a  receiving  set  and 
loud-speaker,  so  that  artists  and  speakers  may  hear  the 
program  just  as  it  is  being  heard*  everywhere  within 
WWJ's  range.  This  receiving  set  is  so  equipped  and 
adjusted  as  to  approximate  all  conditions  of  reception  at 
a  distance  of  five  miles ;  and  while  it  furnishes  diversion 
for  waiting  performers,  it  also  is  a  guide  to  the  engineer- 
operators  in  the  adjustment  of  the  transmitting  appara- 
tus, and  the  giving  of  instructions  to  entertainers.  The 
auditorium  also  contains  a  blackboard  bearing  the  pro- 
gram, and  advising  each  "number"  of  his  place  on  the 
"bill." 

The  program  director  and  his  assistant  act  as  stage 
managers.  They  call  the  artists  in  turn  to  the  adjoining 
main  studio,  a  room  26  by  28  feet,  especially  prepared 


28  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

from  a  standpoint  of  acoustics.  This  room  has  been 
made  echo-proof  through  the  use  of  specially  constructed 
walls  and  ceilings,  padded  with  felt  two  inches  thick. 
Curtains  of  friar's  cloth  are  hung  over  doorways,  win- 
dows and  walls,  the  further  to  deaden  all  sonrds  save 
those  which  are  to  be  transmitted.  The  floor  is,  for  th.i 
same  reason,  covered  with  a  thick  blue  carpet. 

The  equipment  of  the  main  studio  includes  two  grand 
pianos,  an  upright  piano,  four  or  five  phonographs  of 
various  makes,  music  stands  and  cabinets,  a  reading  desk 
and  sundry  furnishings  for  comfort  and  convenience. 

Inconspicuous,  except  to  the  entertainers,  is  a  box- 
like,  electrically  operated  device  somewhat  resembling 
the  electric  enunciators  used  in  hospitals.  It  is  connected 
with  the  radio  engineer's  desk,  and  is  his  means  of  com- 
munication with  the  entertainer.  The  face  of  this  indi- 
cator bears  such  legends  as  "Farther  from  the  phone," 
"Louder,"  "Softer,"  and  "Stop."  The  operator  can  touch 
a  button,  making  a  light  glow  behind  whatever  legend 
he  wishes  to  signal  for  the  guidance  of  musician  or 
speaker. 

A  duplicate  of  this  device  is  in  a  smaller  studio,  like- 
wise sound  deadened,  and  reserved  for  speakers  and  for 
the  transmission  of  news.  This  studio  is  furnished  with 
a  reading  table,  reading  lamp,  deep  leather  chair,  carafe 
and  other  comforts. 

WWJ  learned  early  the  performer's  need  of  privacy : 
and  when  he  enters  the  studios,  he  is  alone  except  for 
the  announcer.  Occasionally  this  very  privacy  is  dis- 
tressing to  artists  who  need  a  visible  and  responsive 
audience  as  a  stimulus;  but  its  advantages  overweigh 
this  objection,  and  embarrassment  speedily  passes.  Oc- 
casionally an  entertainer  comes  dressed  to  please  the 
most  fastidious  eye  in  the  unseeing  audience ;  but  the 
more  experienced  are  aware  of  the  utter  informality  of 
the  occasion,  and  conduct  themselves  as  in  rehearsal.  It 
it  no  uncommon  thing  for  a  distinguished  artist,  such  as 
John  Steele,  operatic  star,  to  doff  coat,  waistcoat,  collar 
and  necktie  before  singing. 


BEHIND  THE  SCENES  29 

In  each  of  the  studios  there  is  the  all-essential  micro- 
phone. The  newer  type  of  instrument  looks  much  like 
a  bronze  mantel  clock,  except  that  it  has  no  dial;  and  it  is 
approximately  six  inches  in  diameter.  It  has  no  horn  or 
other  flaring  contrivance ;  but  it  catches  all  sounds  direct- 
ed toward  it  and  changes  them  to  electrical  vibrations. 
From  each  microphone,  three  wires  run  to  the  operating 
room  where  the  electrical  vibrations  are  increased  in 
strength  and  then  impressed  on  the  transmitter,  which 
projects  them  through  the  ether  in  the  form  of  electro- 
magnetic waves,  on  errands  of  intelligence  and  enter- 
tainment. Never  more  than  one  microphone  is  used  at  a 
time. 

The  electrical  processes  by  which  this  modern  miracle 
in  transformation  and  transmission  is  accomplished  are, 
roughly,  as  follows : 

When  the  sound  waves  from  the  throat  or  from  musi- 
cal instruments  strike  the  diaphragm  of  the  microphone, 
they  cause  it  to  vibrate.  The  vibrations  alternately  com- 
press and  release  a  small  column  of  carbon  particles,  thus 
varying  what  is  known  as  contact  resistance,  through 
the  column. 

The  resistance  of  the  carbon  particles  is  high  when 
the  diaphragm  is  not  in  motion,  and  therefore  very  little 
current  flows  through  the  speech-current  circuit.  But 
as  soon  as  the  sound  waves  sti  ike  the  diaphragm,  the  re- 
sistance of  this  carbon  column  is  varied,  slowly  for  low- 
pitched  notes,  and  more  rapidly  for  the  high-pitched. 

The  pulsations  of  electrical  current  are  allowed  to  pass 
through  the  speech-current  circuit  in  the  exact  form  of 
the  vibrations  of  the  speech  energy.  At  the  other  end  of 
the  circuit  these  minute  pulsations  of  electrical  energy 
are  made  to  control  the  action  of  a  series  of  vacuum 
tubes  which  greatly  amplify,  or  increase,  the  amount  of 
this  current,  and  still  preserve  its  true  form  for  repro- 
duction of  sound  vibrations.  This  part  of  the  circuit  is 
called  the  speech-current  amplifier. 

From  here  the  current  goes  through  another  circuit 


30  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

into  the  radiophone  transmitter,  where  the  speech-current 
is  once  more  amplified  by  actuating  a  small  power  tube- 
before  being  finally  impressed  upon  big  modulation  tubes. 
By  this  time  the  speech-current  pulsations  from  the  mic- 
rophone have  been  "stepped  up,"  or  amplified,  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  times,  but  without  altering  the  relative 
form  of  the  vibrations. 

At  this  point  the  speech-current  is  used  to  change  the 
form  of  the  continuous  electrical  oscillations  in  the  radio 
transmitter  so  that  very  powerful  pulsations  are  sent  into 
the  aerial,  and  sent  out  therefrom  in  all  directions  with 
the  speed  of  light  (186,000  miles  a  second),  but  still  in 
such  form  as  faithfully  to  reproduce  speech,  music  or 
other  sounds  conveyed  to  the  little  microphone.  It  is 
the  business  of  receiving  sets  to  convert  the  electro- 
magnetic waves,  through  crystal  or  vacuum  tube  and 
telephone  receiver,  back  into  sound  waves. 

Visitors  to  The  Detroit  News  Building  are  shown  be- 
hind the  scenes  in  this  as  well  as  other  departments  by  a 
guide,  at  1  and  3  p.  m.  each  week  day.  Persons  seeking 
technical  information  are  welcome  at  the  department 
from  9  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m.,  or  may  address  inquiries  to  the 
Radio  Editor. 


Interior  of  Power  Panel  (Left)  and  Transmitter. 


The  Farmer  and  WWJ 

IT  is  the  prophecy  of  farm  leaders  everywhere  that  in 
agriculture  more  than  in  any  other  industry,  the  radio- 
phone will  reach  its  greatest  usefulness  to  the  nation. 

There  even  have  been  prophets  to  place  radio  ahead  of 
the  rural  mail,  the  telephone  or  the  automobile  as  an 
agency  for  bettering  social  conditions  and  making  the 
farm  a  magnet  to  attract  and  hold  the  interest  of  the 
coming  generation.  These  herald  the  new  voices  of  the 
air  as  an  especial  godsend  to  the  isolated  farm,  as  was  the 
wireless  telegraph  previously  a  godsend  to  the  sea. 

The  radiophone  has  arrived  as  a  dramatic  climax  to  a 
series  of  improvements  destined  to  equalize  the  social 
advantages  of  town  and  country  through  better  means 
of  communication  and  entertainment.  When  it  is  realized 
that  32,000,000  persons  live  upon  farms  in  the  United 
States,  the  opportunity  for  this  service  is  apparent. 

While  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture 
had,  since  December  15,  1920,  been  using  the  radiotele- 
graph for  broadcasting  market  reports,  the  radiotele- 
phone was  not  much  in  use  for  that  purpose  until  1922. 
The  Government  market  system  the  first  year  included 
mail  radiotelegraph  stations  at  Washington,  Cincinnati, 
St.  Louis,  Omaha,  North  Platte,  Neb.,  Rock  Springs, 
Wyo.,  and  Elko  and  Reno,  Nev.,  each  of  them  having  a 
radius  of  300  miles. 

The  difficulty  with  this  broadcasting  by  the  Govern- 
ment was  that,  being  done  by  radiotelegraph,  the  signals 
could  be  read  only  by  persons  proficient  in  copying 
telegraph  code.  The  radiotelephone,  on  the  other  hand, 
enables  any  farmer  equipped  with  a  moderate  priced  re- 
ceiver to  take  advantage  of  the  service. 

It  was  to  give  the  farmers  and  other  business  men  of 
the  upper  and  lower  peninsulas  of  Michigan,  Ontario 
and  adjoining  states,  this  better  and  more  practical  serv- 
ice that  The  Detroit  News  early  in  1922  began  a  daily 


THE  FARMER  AND  WWJ  33 

broadcast  of  market  quotations  by  radiophone,  embracing 
the  following:  The  close  of  the  Detroit  Stock  Exchange, 
the  Michigan  Central  livestock  reports,  quotations  on 
livestock  from  Chicago  and  other  points,  the  close  of  the 
Chicago  and  other  grain  markets,  Wall  Street's  closing 
prices  and  the  New  York  money  market. 

Joined  with  this  were  Government  weather  forecasts, 
market  quotations,  crop  estimates  and  reports  on  the 
spread  of  harmful  insects  and  plant  and  animal  epidemics. 

The  service  was  given  enthusiastic  reception  by 
farmers  and  business  men  who  then  had  receiving  sets. 
Letters  of  appi  >val  that  continue  to  come  to  Station 
WWJ,  especially  from  farmers,  show  the  important  part 
this  station  is  to  play  in  the  spread  of  economic  informa- 
tion of  untold  value  in  the  raising  and  marketing  of 
crops  on  a  more  businesslike  basis. 

Of  no  less  importance  to  the  rural  sections  is  The 
News'  program  of  university  extension.  Professors  from 
both  the  University  of  Michigan  and  the  Michigan  Ag- 
ricultural College  have  already  given  addresses  which 
have  been  "attended  by  radio"  over  state  and  nation.  The 
U.  of  M.  professors  have,  of  course,  spoken  on  matters 
of  general  educational  interest,  but  those  from  M.  A.  C. 
have  lectured  and  will  continue  to  lecture  on  subjects 
of  particular  interest  and  value  to  the  farmers. 

David  M.  Friday,  president  of  M.  A.  C.,  arranged 
with  The  News  to  furnish  some  member  of  his  staff 
once  every  week,  except  in  the  vacation  period,  to  deliver 
an  address  on  seasonable  and  important  agricultural 
subjects  in  the  News  studio.  President  Friday  suggested 
at  the  start  that  the  talks  be  given  on  Saturday  evenings ; 
for  that  is  the  time  when  the  members  of  the  grange  ordi- 
narily hold  their  meetings,  or  when  farmers  gather  in 
the  nearest  town.  Receiving  sets  owned  by  granges  or 
stores  therefore  could  distribute  intelligence  to  groups. 
It  was  undersood,  of  course,  that  as  receiving  sets  be- 
came more  numerous  in  the  rural  districts,  and  as  the 
system  expanded,  the  time,  wave-length  and  character 
of  the  various  services  of  the  radio  would  be  subject  to 


34  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

changes,   these  to  be  announced  from  time  to  time  in 
The  News  or  from  Station  WWJ. 

The  agricultural  extension  lectures  began  on  the  eve- 
ning of  Saturday,  April  8,  1922.  Prof.  H.  C.  Rather, 
extension  specialist  of  the  Michigan  Agricultural  College, 
and  secretary-treasurer  of  the  Michigan  Crop  Improve- 
ment Association,  spoke  on  quality  seeds  as  a  means  to- 
ward quality  crops,  and  told  his  invisible  audience  how 
the  state  of  Michigan  had  arranged,  through  co-operation 
between  the  college  and  the  association,  to  provide  the 
farmers  of  the  state  with  seeds  of  known  and  demon- 
strated excellence. 

It  is  the  opinion  of  President  Friday  that  the  radio  is 
bound  to  work  out  a  closer  union  between  the  farmers 
of  Michigan  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  cities  and  towns, 
and  to  mean  much  in  the  promotion  of  a  sympathetic 
solidarity  in  the  state's  citizenry. 

Among  the  earliest  radio  enthusiasts  was  Albert  B. 
Cook  of  Shiawassee  County,  master  of  the  Michigan 
State  Grange,  whose  son  installed  in  their  house  a  home- 
made set  at  a  cost  of  $20.  Mr.  Cook  at  once  proclaimed 
this  as  the  modern  Aladdin's  lamp,  because  of  the  diver- 
sity of  its  wonders. 

"We  have  here,"  said  he,  "a  first-class  source  of  in- 
formation on  prices  and  conditions  for  all  kinds  of  farm- 
ing whether  cereal,  dairying,  special  or  general  crops. 
It  will  bring  to  us  with  the  speed  of  lightning  warnings 
of  swarming  insects,  agricultural  epidemics  and  destruc- 
tive invasions.  It  will  keep  our  eyes  open  for  changes  in 
the  weather — all  of  this  sufficiently  in  advance  to  save 
untold  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  farmers,  once  full 
advantage  is  taken  of  the  system. 

"But  further  than  that,  it  brings  to  our  firesides,  in- 
structive and  culturing  entertainment,  music,  drolleries 
— a  divertisement  we  had  not  before  on  the  farm." 

The  mountain  refused  to  go  to  Mahomet  but  the  city 
is  in  a  fair  way  to  be  taken  to  the  farmer  without  the 
necessity  of  his  stepping  outside  the  sitting  room  of  his 
home. 


A   Worthy   Habitation 

nnHOSE  relatively  few  Detroiters  who  remember  the 
•*•  day,  August  23,  1873,  when  James  Edmund  Scripps 
took  the  first  copy  of  The  News  from  the  press,  were  not 
surprised  when  on  its  forty-seventh  birthday,  the  paper 
became  the  journalistic  pioneer  in  broadcasting  intelli- 
gence and  entertainment  by  radiotelephone.  That  inno- 
vation was  in  line  with  the  determination  of  its  founder 
and  his  successors  in  the  administration  of  the  newspaper 
to  keep  it  ever  foremost  in  its  field,  and  in  the  vanguard 
of  progressivism  in  the  nation's  journalism.  "Always  in 
the  lead"  has  been,  from  the  first,  its  realized  motto  in 
editorial  enterprise,  social  service  and  business  acumen. 
In  its  first  decade,  The  Detroit  News  burdened  the 
soul  of  its  founder  with  economic  problems;  for  its  in- 
stant success  surpassed  all  expectation,  and  Mr.  Scripps 
was  hard  pressed  for  funds  with  which  to  produce  his 
publication  in  such  quantity  as  would  satisfy  the  demand. 
In  time,  financial  shortages  ceased  to  harass  the  pub- 
lisher, but  The  Detroit  News  has  never,  in  its  49  years 
of  existence,  known  a  span  of  five  years  when  it  could 
count  its  plant  adequate  to  meet  its  every  need.  And 
this,  despite  careful  planning.  Neither  the  most  vision- 
ary nor  the  astutest  of  the  executives  could  possibly  have 
foreseen  with  any  certainty  either  the  growth  of  the  city 
and  state  which  the  paper  has  served,  the  ever-increasing 
respect  and  relish  of  the  public  for  its  columns,  or  the  ad- 
ditions to  the  functions  of  the  press,  such,  for  example, 
as  radiotelephone  broadcasting. 

When  James  E.  Scripps  laid  the  corner  stone  of  the 
little  one-story  brick  addition  to  a  frame  house,  which 
constituted  the  first  home  of  The  News,  he  could  not 
even  vaguely  have  conceived  of  the  paper's  ultimate  oc- 
cupancy of  the  largest  and  finest  newspaper  manufactory 
in  the  world ;  and  within  a  decade  of  his  death.  And 
when,  in  1900,  he  came  readily  to  the  assistance  of  Mich- 


36  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

igan's  radio  pioneer,  Thomas  E.  Clark,  with  an  endow- 
ment of  a  thousand  dollars  for  necessary  researches,  he 
most  certainly  did  not  foresee  that  within  the  lifetime  of 
his  venerable  widow,  The  Detroit  News  would  give  over 
to  radio  3003  square  feet  of  floor  space — more,  indeed, 
than  the  entire  plant  needed  for  the  four-page  news- 
paper of  the  early  seventies. 

The  magnificent  stone  and  steel  structure  into  which 
The  Detroit  News  moved  in  1917  was  the  product  ot  a 
quarter  of  a  century  of  incessant  planning.  It  occupied  a 
full  half  block,  covering  the  historic  homestead  of  Zach- 
ariah  Chandler,  most  famous  of  Michigan's  senators,  and 
extending  from  Fort  to  Lafayette  on  Second  Boulevard, 
a  distance  of  280  feet,  with  a  frontage  of  150  feet  on  each 
of  the  first  named  thoroughfares.  It  was  thought  ample 
to  meet  the  needs  of  the  publication  for  years  to  come ; 
yet  within  a  twelve-month  additions  were  found  neces- 
sary. The  third,  and  eventually  the  fourth  quarter  of  the 
block  were  acquired,  and  now  The  News  occupies  the 
entire  square. 

The  additions  extended  not  merely  to  this  space,  on 
which  a  vast  paper  warehouse  and  garage  were  con- 
structed, but  touched  even  the  main  building,  on  which 
was  superimposed  a  fourth  story,  behind  the  decorative 
parapet ;  and  in  a  portion  of  the  added  floor  the  now  fam- 
ous radio  station,  WWJ,  is  housed.  This  department  in- 
cludes a  suite  of  executive  offices,  the  technical  labor- 
atory, operating  room,  the  reception  room  for  artists 
and  the  public,  the  studio  whence  musical  numbers  are 
broadcast,  and  another  for  individuals  delivering  ad- 
dresses to  the  "radio  family"  of  The  News. 

Each  year  ten  thousand  persons  are  shown  through 
The  Detroit  News  Building,  many  of  whom  are  publish- 
ers with  a  deep  professional  interest  in  its  design  and 
equipment.  Journalists  of  more  than  a  score  of  foreign 
countries,  and  from  every  continent,  have  inspected  the 
plant;  and  many  at  home  and  abroad  have  made  it  the 
basis  for  new  buildings,  in  some  instances  practically 
replicas  on  a  smaller  scale.  But  of  course  the  vast  ma- 


Laboratory  of  WWJ,  Showing  Motor  and  Generator. 


38  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

jority  of  the  visitors  are  of  the  populace  which  makes  up 
the  clientele  of  the  paper,  and  they  are  actuated  not  by 
professional  interests  but  human  curiosity  with  regard  to 
the  press  as  a  great  social  institution,  and  by  a  deep  re- 
gard for  the  fine  and  the  beautiful,  as  represented  in  the 
building's  architecture,  decoration  and  equipment. 

But  while  nobility  of  design  and  conforming  dignity 
of  furnishings  are  notable  features  of  the  building,  the 
aim  and  achievement  of  the  publishers  and  the  architect, 
Mr.  Albert  Kahn,  were  a  combination  of  such  qualities 
as  would  result  in  a  building  expressing  the  semi-public 
functions  of  the  press  and  at  the  same  time  demonstrat- 
ing modern  factory  efficiency  principles.  Neither  good 
taste  nor  sound  practice  in  plant  construction  was  sac- 
rificed, one  for  the  other.  In  the  end  there  was  realized 
an  edifice  which  is  a  distinct  contribution  to  American 
architecture,  and  known  as  such  the  world  over.  It  frankly 
acknowledges  its  indebtedness  to  the  past,  not  merely  in 
its  appropriation  and  adaptation  of  modern  and  med- 
ieval European  architectural  elements,  but  in  the  carved 
stone  figures  of  Gutenberg,  Caxton,  Plantin  and  Greeley, 
fathers  of  journalism,  which  adorn  the  parapet ;  and  in 
the  colophons,  or  printers'  marks,  which  are  engraved  on 
decorative  shields  on  the  exterior,  in  recognition  of  the 
master  craftsmen  of  another  age. 

The  inscriptions  on  the  parapet,  of  which  Prof.  F.  N. 
Scott,  of  the  University  of  Michigan,  is  the  author,  are 
an  added  feature  of  the  exterior.  They  express  the  ideal 
of  the  newspaper  housed  therein  and  the  goal  toward 
which  it  strives : 

Mirror  of  the  Public  Mind  .  .  Interpreter  of 
the  Public  Intent  .  .  Troubler  of  the  Public 
Conscience 

Reflector    of    Every     Human     Interest  .  . 
Friend    of    Every     Righteous     Cause  .  .  En- 
courager  of  Every  Generous  Act 

Bearer  of  Intelligence  .  .  Dispeller  of  Ignor- 
ance and  Predjuice  .  ,  A  Light  Shining  into 
All  Dark  Places 


A  WORTHY  HABITATION  39 

Promoter  of  Civic  Welfare  and  Civic 
Pride  .  .  Bond  of  Civic  Unity  .  .  Protector 
of  Civic  Rights 

Scourge  of  Evil  Doers  .  .  Exposer  of  Secret 
Iniquities  .  .  Unrelenting  Foe  of  Privilege  and 
•Corruption 

Voice  of  the  Lowly  and  Oppressed  .  .  Ad- 
vocate of  the  Friendless  .  .  Righter  of  Public 
and  Private  Wrongs 

Chronicler  of  Facts  .  .  Sifter  of  Rumors  and 
Opinions  .  .  Minister  of  the  Truth  That  Makes 
Men  Free. 

Reporter  of  the  New  .  .  Remembrancer  of 
the  Old  and  Tried  .  .  Herald  of  What  Is  to 
Come 

Defender  of  Civil  Liberty  .  .  Strengthener 
of  Loyalty  .  .  Pillar  and  Stay  of  Democratic 
Government 

Upbuilder  of  the  Home  .  .  Nourisher  of  the 
Community  Spirit  .  .  Art,  Letters,  and  Science 
of  the  Common  People 

The  decorations  in  the  first  and  second  floor  lobbies 
are  of  a  modified  Renaissance  character;  and  the  former 
is  made  particularly  impressive  by  the  wrought  steel 
vestibule  at  the  entrance,  the  steel  grilles  in  the  tym- 
panums at  either  end,  the  light  fixture  suggesting  a  me- 
dieval globe,  and  the  low  relief  figures  representing  Gov- 
ernment, Commerce,  History  and  Philosophy,  in  broad- 
sweeping  lunettes.  These  features  are  rivaled  only  by 
the  stained  glass  windows  in  The  News'  private  library, 
as  masterpieces  in  modern  craftsmanship.  Lesser  points 
of  interest  for  their  richness  are  the  various  executive  and 
administrative  offices,  wainscoted  in  modified  Eliza- 
bethan style;  the  library,  with  its  arched  and  modeled 
ceiling  and  its  deep  alcoves  with  colorful  and  learning- 
laden  shelves;  and  the  art  department,  with  its  heavily 
beamed  ceiling  and  its  booths  for  individual  artists,  hav- 
ing an  air  of  cloister  cells. 

Deep  as  is  the  interest  of  guests  in  such  elements  of 


40  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

beauty,  those  things  which  give  greatest  pause  are  the 
various  mechanical  divisions  of  the  paper  where  are 
wrought  the  wonders  which  result  in  the  speedy  dissemi- 
nation of  knowledge  to  a  waiting  world. 

In  the  composing  room,  spacious  and  airy,  144  men 
do  miracles  with  well-nigh  human  type-setting  machines 
and  their  glistening  product.  Each  of  these  machines, 
of  which  there  are  two-score,  runs  night  and  day  and  is 
capable  of  the  output  of  five  or  six  hand  compositors. 
The  pages  of  type,  when  assembled,  move  to  the  stereo- 
typing department,  where  they  are  duplicated  by  an 
elaborate  and  fascinating  process.  Matrices  of  damp, 
blotter-like  paper  are  imposed  upon  the  pages  of  type 
and  made  to  take  a  perfect  impression  of  the  type-  and 
cut-faces  by  being  subjected  to  enormous  pressure.  Then 
they  are  baked  dry  while  still  under  pressure,  and  be- 
come the  molds  from  which  semi-cylindrical  plates  of 
type-met?.!,  in  exact  duplication  of  the  original  forms  of 
type,  except  for  shape,  are  cast  by  ponderous  machines. 
The  plates  fit  the  cylinders  of  the  presses  and  make  pos- 
sible the  simultaneous  printing  of  identical  newspapers 
on  broad  ribbons  of  paper.  Workmen  in  this  department 
handle  75  tons  of  metal  daily. 

The  presses  which  print  the  complete  daily  editions 
and  the  black  and  white  sections  of  the  Sunday  news- 
paper, form  a  battery  of  thirty  synchronized  units,  to 
which  six  more  now  under  construction  will  shortly  be 
added.  They  are  193  feet  2  inches  long,  over  all,  and 
have  a  capacity  of  504,000  complete  16-page  papers, 
printed,  cut,  folded,  counted  and  delivered  to  the  ship- 
ping room  every  hour.  These  voracious  machines  con- 
sume nearly  140  rolls,  each  containing  six  miles  of  paper, 
every  day.  Last  year's  total  approximated  300,000  miles 
of  paper  of  a  standard  width  of  70  inches.  The  imme- 
diate storage  pier,  147  feet  long  and  50  feet  wide,  is 
emptied  of  its  burden  of  rolls  in  a  day  and  a  half;  and 
the  paper  warehouse  has  a  capacity  of  12,000  rolls,  or 
72,000  miles  of  paper.  Each  day's  output  of  The  News 
involves  the  consumption  of  3,300  pounds  of  ink. 


The  Main  Lobby  of  The  Detroit  News  Building. 


Here  the  News  of  the  Day  Is  Assembled. 


The  News  Library  Contains  18,000  Volumes. 

T 


World's  Records  for  Advertising  Lineage  Are  Set  Here. 


Two  Score  Typesetting  Machines  Serve  the  Composing  Room. 


The  Stereotypers  Handle  75  Tons  of  Metal  Daily. 


The  Presses  Consume  300,000  Miles  of  Paper  Yearly. 


A  Fleet  of  72  Autos  Awaits  the  Press  Room's  Product. 


A  WORTHY  HABITATION  45 

The  Detroit  News  is  the  only  newspaper  in  Michigan 
having  a  rotogravure  department  of  its  own ;  and  the 
highly  technical  and  involved  process  of  etching  the  cop- 
per cylinders  and  printing  the  rotogravure  section  is  one 
understood  by  few  not  engaged  in  the  business — and 
successfully  described  to  the  layman  by  none.  The  color 
press,  capable  of  printing  four  colors  at  once  and  a  great 
variety  of  shades,  works,  like  the  rotogravure  presses,  at 
a  much  lower  speed  than  the  big  battery  devoted  to  the 
black  and  white  sections.  The  color  press  prints  the 
illustrated  magazine  section  and  the  colored  comics  of 
the  Sunday  edition  of  The  News  simultaneously  at  the 
rate  of  11,000  an  hour. 

Those  of  an  electrical  turn  of  mind  will  be  interested 
to  know  that  the  safety  automatic  control  board  regu- 
lating the  operation  of  the  presses  includes  62  feet  of 
marble  panels  of  more  than  head  height ;  and  that  The 
News  is  the  only  newspaper  in  the  world  whose  power 
(entirely  electrical)  is  drawn  from  a  remotely  controlled 
substation  within  its  own  walls.  Here  alternating  cur- 
rent at  a  pressure  of  4,600  volts  is  transformed  to  direct 
current. 

The  art  and  engraving  departments  work  in  close 
co-operation,  and  their  efficient  equipment  makes  possible 
on  the  one  hand  the  rapid  development  of  photographic 
negatives,  and  on  the  other  the  utmost  speed  in  the  pro- 
duction of  "cuts."  A  halftone  engraving  has  been 
etched  and  made  ready  for  reproduction  of  a  photograph 
in  the  paper  in  21  minutes,  though  no  such  speed  is  or- 
dinarily attempted. 

The  business  and  editorial  offices  are  humming  places 
of  industry  and  mental  application  to  the  numberless 
problems  of  journalism;  but  less  spectacularly  interest- 
ing than  mechanical  departments,  naturally. 

Into  the  editorial  department,  news  and  pictures 
from  the  ends  of  the  earth  come  in  a  never-diminishing 
torrent,  the  while  the  local  staff  mercilessly  inflicts  its 
own  product  on  the  harassed  "copy-readers."  The  four 
greatest  news  gathering  agencies,  15  "feature  syndicates" 


46  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

and  five  leading  photographic  services  supply  matter  for 
the  paper,  in  addition  to  the  output  of  its  thousand  spe- 
cial correspondents  in  Michigan  and  its  bureaus  operated 
by  members  of  the  editorial  staff  in  Washington,  New 
York,  London  and  Berlin.  Sixteen  manual  telegraph 
instruments  and  two  automatic,  within  the  building, 
bring  news  of  the  outer  world,  to  which  the  customary 
services  of  the  telegraph  companies  are  but  a  supplement. 

A  library  of  18,000  volumes  and  a  scraparium  where 
are  filed  30,000  engravings  and  data  and  pictures  touch- 
ing 80,000  subjects  or  persons,  are  invaluable  adjuncts 
to  the  editorial  department. 

The  business  office  does  not,  to  the  casual  onlooker, 
reveal  the  myriad  threads  by  which  it  directs  the  efforts, 
not  merely  of  nine  hundred  employes  within  the  walls  of 
The  News,  but  5,000  newsboys  in  Detroit,  3,000  more  in 
the  state,  1,450  city  news  stands,  101  city  supply  stations 
950  state  agents,  and  the  fleet  of  72  automobiles  em- 
ployed in  distributing  the  papers,  handling  raw  materials 
and  doing  the  unnumbered  other  tasks  of  a  metropolitan 
newspaper.  Four  long  rows  of  telephones  in  a  sound- 
deadened  room,  with  industrious  clerks  attending  them, 
indicate  the  inner  connection  with  the  458  stations  in  the 
city  where  classified  advertising  is  left  for  The  News. 
These  telephones  are  a  part  of  the  167  connected  with  70 
trunk  lines,  which  maintain  communication  with  the 
public.  For  interdepartmental  communication,  there  is 
an  automatic  private  telephone  system,  such  as  Detroit 
is  promised  for  general  use  in  the  near  future. 

As  a  result  of  the  zeal  of  this  department  in  present- 
ing the  merits  of  the  paper  to  the  business  world,  The 
News  has  with  astonishing  consistency  set  world's 
records  for  total  advertising  lineage. 

It  goes  without  saying  that,  in  providing  nearly 
275,000  square  feet  of  floor  space  for  the  multiple  tasks 
of  newspaper  production,  The  News  has  made  generous 
provision  for  the  comfort  and  convenience  of  its  em- 
ployes, in  addition  to  the  necessary  efficient  working 
quarters.  There  is  an  admirably  equipped  cafe ;  a  hos- 


A  WORTHY  HABITATION 


47 


pital  without  a  superior  in  attractiveness  or  complete- 
ness of  equipment  for'  industrial  casualties ;  a  conference 
and  reading  room,  where  lectures,  concerts,  motion  pic- 
ture showings,  dances  and  other  entertainments  may  be 
held.  The  air  in  the  building  is  washed.  Refrigerated 
water  is  supplied  all  departments.  The  rapid  growth  of 
the  paper,  and  the  increasing  demands  for  space  have 
obliterated  the  tennis  court  which  once  occupied  a  por- 
tion of  the  roof,  and  a  few  other  features  of  a  recreative 
character,  for  the  time  being. 

The  best  thought  of  the  various  staffs  of  The  News  is 
constantly  directed  toward  the  needs  of  the  future.  What 
this  will  mean  in  further  extensions  of  the  remarkable 
plant  of  the  newspaper,  only  the  future  can  tell.  They 
will,  if  past  experience  count  for  anything,  be  as  remark- 
able as  those  herein  outlined. 


"This  Is  WWJ— The  Detroit  News.' 


The  Genesis  of  Radiotelephony 

RADIO  TELEPHONY,  like  all  attempts  to  utilize  the 
mysterious  forces  of  the  universe,  is  largely  a  matter 
of  theory  and  experiment.  We  are  dealing  with  invisible 
things.  The  various  phenomena  that  we  are  able  to  pro- 
duce are  merely  the  effects  of  certain  manipulations. 
Electricity,  magnetism,  radio-activity  and  even  such 
familiar  things  as  light,  heat  and  the  manifestation  of 
color  are  only  the  effects  of  certain  disturbances  which 
we  have  learned  how  to  accomplish  in  the  invisible 
elemental  substance  or  substances  which  surround  us. 

Theories  regarding  these  phenomena  have  undergone 
many  changes.  For  many  years  electricity  was  regarded 
as  a  fluid.  For  a  time  it  was  regarded  as  two  fluids.  As 
an  inheritance  of  these  discarded  theories  mechanical 
electricians  still  often  style  electric  current  as  "juice" 
because,  by  providing  suitable  conductors  it  can  be  made 
to  flow  in  a  particular  direction  and  along  a  certain  path. 
When  one  asks  why  it  is  that  by  merely  swinging  a  coil 
of  copper  wire  through  the  field  of  a  powerful  magnet  a 
current  of  electricity  will  pass  through  the  wire  in  one 
direction  as  the  wire  approaches  the  center  of  the  mag- 
netic influence  and  why  the  current  is  reversed  and  flows 
through  the  coil  in  the  opposite  direction  as  it  moves 
away  from  that  center  of  attraction,  the  answer  leads  us 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  theory  of  electricity. 

In  elementary  physics  we  learn  of  the  "molecular 
theory  of  magnetism."  The  molecules  of  ferrous  metal 
are,  each  and  every  one,  separate  and  distinct  permanent 
magnets — each  with  a  north  and  south  pole,  like  a  tiny 
earth.  Each  pole  has  an  attraction  for  its  opposite  pole 
(likes  repel,  unlikes  attract,  you  know)  and  all  these  mag- 
nets give  off  lines  of  force  in  little  circles  called  magnet- 
ism, due  to  that  attraction  of  likes  for  unlikes. 

When  a  bar  of  iron  or  steel  is  said  to  be  unmagnet- 
ized,  this  condition  exists  in  the  metal :  The  little  mole- 


"Hear  ye!     Hear  ye!!     Hear  ye!!! 


The  Town  Crier,  whose  whimsical  approach  to  life  is  an  ever 
popular  feature  of  WWJ  programs,  could  not  long  remain  anon- 
ymous. He  is  Al  Weeks,  dramatic  critic  of  The  Detroit  News,  and 
well  known  as  a  humorist,  dramatist  and  actor. 


SO  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

cule-magnets  are  now  pointing  their  north  poles  in 
various  directions.  Each  magnet,  or  group  of  magnets, 
in  its  own  little  sphere  of  influence,  has  its  own  tiny 
circles  of  force  so  small  that  they  are  entirely  within  the 
metal,  the  result  being  that  no  influence  extends  outside 
the  bar. 

But  when  we  bring  the  bar  under  a  sufficiently  strong 
influence  of  some  other  magnetized  body,  all  these  little 
magnets  in  the  metal  rearrange  themselves  to  point  their 
north  poles  in  the  same  direction,  all  the  south  poles,  of 
course,  pointing  the  opposite  way.  This  causes  the  cir- 
cles or  lines  of  force  to  be  given  a  common  direction, 
with  the  result  that  they  join  forces,  making  large  con- 
centric circles — now  large  and  strong  enough  to  extend 
outside  the  bar  a  little  way — influencing  anything  that 
comes  near  the  metal  within  the  field  of  those  unseen 
lines  of  force.  Then  do  we  say  the  bar  of  metal  has  been 
magnetized. 

Now,  when  that  copper  wire  is  waved  or  otherwise 
put  in  motion  near  this  bar,  cutting  across  those  unseen 
lines  of  force  outside  the  metal,  something  takes  place  in 
the  copper  wire.  This  is  the  romance  of  the  atom :  There 
are  in  the  copper  subdivisions  of  atoms  called  electrons 
and  co-electrons  or  ions,  each  kind  having  affinity  for  the 
other  kind,  and  all  wedded  in  pairs — an  electron  for  each 
ion. 

But  the  motion  of  the  wire  in  that  magnetic  field 
causes  the  couples  to  be  cast  asunder.  The  magnetic  in- 
fluence sends  the  ions  in  one  direction  to  the  outside  of 
the  field  of  force,  and  the  electrons  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion. When  the  copper  wire  is  a  circuit,  one  kind  goes 
hurrying  down  along  that  circuit — an  easy  path  for  them 
— traveling  however  far — each  positive  male  ion  trying 
to  find  and  wed  a  negative  female  electron — each  particle 
trying  to  find  its  affinity.  The  great  stress  of  these  affin- 
ity particles  in  this  action  we  call — electricity ! 

This  movement  of  the  ions  and  electrons  in  a  circuit 
constitutes  what  is  called  electric  current.  When  we 
manipulate  the  copper  wire  so  as  to  have  all  of  the  ions 


THE  GENESIS  OF  RADIO  SI 

travel  the  same  way  constantly  and  all  the  electrons 
travel  an  opposite  way  constantly,  we  call  it  direct  cur- 
rent. When  all  of  the  ions  go  for  a  short  time  in  one 
direction  and  find  and  wed  their  affinities,  and  then  the 
next  bunch  of  them  goes  for  the  same  space  of  time  in 
the  other  direction  to  find  and  wed,  we  call  it  alternating 
current. 

The  creation  of  current  in  this  way — moving  the  wire- 
in  the  magnetic  field — is  called  generation.  Outside  me- 
chanical force  is  of  course  necessary  to  keep  the  wire  in 
motion.  Induction,  on  the  other  hand,  is  the  transfer  or 
taking  up  of  magnetism  or  electricity  from  one  body  to 
another  in  its  presence,  or  from  one  circuit  to  another 
nearby,  without  the  necessity  of  their  being  in  actual 
contact  with  each  other.  A  machine  for  generating  is  a 
generator;  and  a  common  apparatus  for  induction  is 
known  as  an  induction  coil. 

Magnetic  influence  has  been  known  for  a  long  time, 
but  it  was  not  until  the  Nineteenth  Century  was  well 
advanced  that  the  discovery  was  put  to  practical  use  for 
the  generation  of  electric  current.  It  was  not  until  1886 
that  Heinrich  Hertz,  a  student  under  von  Helmholtz, 
made  the  startling  discovery  that  the  discharge  of  an 
electric  spark  in  the  atmosphere  would  set  up  a  wave 
motion  which  would  be  propagated  in  all  directions,  and 
that  some  of  the  energy  of  this  wave  could  be  taken  up 
on  a  coil  of  wire  at  some  distance. 

This  was  the  real  beginning  of  radio  development. 
What  remained  to  be  done  was  to  discover  how  far  these 
waves  would  travel  and  to  devise  instruments  which 
would  be  capable  of  absorbing  their  energy  and  then 
amplifying  it  and  translating  it  into  sound.  Hertz  dem- 
onstrated that  such  waves  could  be  reflected,  refracted, 
or  bent  out  of  their  regular  course,  diffracted,  or  broken 
up;  and  also  they  could  be  polarized.  With  the  knowl- 
edge of  these  properties  in  hand  the  way  was  opened 
for  radio  development.  This  discovery  was  published 
to  the  world  at  large  in  1887. 

Augusto  Righi,  physicist  of  the  University  of  Bologna, 


52  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

began  experimenting  with  Hertzian  waves.  One  of  his 
students  was  a  young  man,  son  of  an  Italian  father  and 
an  Irish  mother,  named  Guglielmo  Marconi,  Marconi 
concentrated  his  attention  upon  radio  experiments  with 
such  striking  success  that  in  1897  the  Marconi  Wireless 
Telegraph  Company  was  organized  in  Great  Britain. 
Marconi  had  failed  to  interest  the  Italian  government  in 
this  promotion. 

In  much  the  same  way  that  the  electro-magnetic 
telegraph  eventually  led  to  the  invention  of  the  tele- 
phone, so  Marconi's  experiments  and  successes  with 
radio-telegraphy  led  to  the  production  of  the  wireless 
telephone  or  radiophone  service.  In  the  early  1870's 
Elisha  Gray  constructed  a  set  of  magnetic  buzzers  which 
would  give  all  the  tones  of  the  musical  scale.  By  connect- 
ing this  device  in  a  telegraph  circuit  he  found  that  a  tune 
played  upon  this  instrument  would  be  repeated  by  tele- 
graph sounders  within  the  circuit,  quite  as  well  as  would 
the  ordinary  click  of  the  telegraph  sending  key. 

The  human  ear,  like  the  human  eye,  is  an  imperfect  in- 
strument in  the  average  person.  Some  persons  can  dis- 
tinguish qualities  in  vibrations  that  are  inaudible  to 
others.  Likewise  some  ears  have  a  very  fine  definition 
for  tunes  that  are  fractional  gradations  of  the  ordinary 
musical  scale. 

Theoretically  at  least,  the  lowest  number  of  vibra- 
tions per  second  that  produces  a  tone  of  the  lowest  pitch 
is  about  14,  but  this  tone  is  only  a  jarring  effect  and  not 
at  all  musical.  It  is  fairly  represented  by  the  sound  pro- 
duced by  the  largest  stopped  organ  pipe.  As  the  number 
of  vibrations  per  second  increases  the  pitch  rises  and  the 
highest  possible  pitch  is  produced  by  vibrations  between 
20,000  and  21,000  per  second.  For  musical  purposes  the 
range  of  vibrations  is  usually  between  40  and  4,000  and 
many  ears  fail  to  record  even  these  modest  extremes. 
Some  individuals  are  tone  deaf  and  pitch  deaf,  just  as 
others  are  color  blind,  victims  of  astigmatism,  or  far- 
sighted  or  near-sighted.  The  ear  is  by  far  the  most  com- 
plex and  the  most  delicate  of  all  the  organs  of  the  human 
body. 


54  WWJ—  THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

In  wire  transmission  Prof.  Gray  demonstrated  that 
very  rapid  oscillations  could  be  transmitted  by  telegraph 
as  well  as  the  slow  clicks  of  the  key.  The  telephone 
carried  this  principle  into  effect  by  transmitting  the  vibra- 
tions of  the  human  voice  acting  upon  a  thin  diaphragm. 
It  was  perfectly  natural,  then,  that  workers  and  experi- 
menters in  radio  should  work  to  the  logical  conclusion 
that  radio  transmissions  would  carry  the  tones  of  a  voice 
or  of  a  musical  instrument  quite  as  surely  as  it  would 
carry  the  snap  of  the  electric  spark.  All  these  phe- 
nomena are  due,  according  to  present  theory,  to  the 
agitation  of  the  ether  and  electrons  and  co-electrons — 
for  simplicity  let's  call  them  all  electrons — which  prevade 
not  only  the  atmosphere  but  all  substances  and  all  space 
and  which  by  their  massed  formation  make  of  the  uni- 
verse a  unit  comparable  to  an  illimitable  ocean  with  no 
bounds  to  either  its  length,  breadth  or  depth. 

Wireless  telegraph  and  wireless  telephone  oper- 
ation merely  consist  in  a  discreet  agitation  of  this 
illimitable  element  into  waves  of  controlled  length. 
These  waves  are  presumed  to  go  outward  in  all  direc- 
tions and  to  immeasurable  distances.  The  sending'of  the 
waves  or  imparting  of  the  vibrations  to  this  body  of 
matter  is  a  relatively  simple  achievement.  The  main  dif- 
ficulty lies  in  the  invention  of  sensitive  receiving  instru- 
ments which  will  detect  them,  react  to  them  perceptibly 
and  which  will  transform  them  from  silence  into  sound. 

The  invisible  ether  and  its  inclosed  flood  of  electrons 
is  so  tenuous  a  body  that  it  exists  and  moves  independent 
of  the  atmosphere,  which  is  in  comparison  like  an  open 
grate  or  screen  through  which  the  electrons  with  their 
surrounding  envelopes  of  ether  flow  at  a  speed  of  184,000 
to  186,000  miles  per  second.  When  anything  moves  at 
such  a  rate  it  is  difficult  to  time  it  with  a  stop  watch. 
It  requires  vecy  delicate  optical  apparatus  and  experi- 
ment to  demonstrate  the  velocity  of  light,  electric  cur- 
rent and  electron  movement,  which  are  all  different  mani- 
festations of  the  same  thing.  Sound  travels  slowly,  as 
every  one  can  observe  by  watching  the  steam  emerge 
from  the  whistle  of  a  boat  on  the  lakes  and  noting  the 


THE  GENESIS  OF  RADIO  55 

time  it  takes  for  the  sound  of  the  whistle  to  reach  the 
ear.  The  transmission  speed  of  the  air  for  sound  is  a 
little  more  than  1,100  feet  per  second.  Water  is  a  little 
quicker  medium,  because  it  is  denser.  If  the  ear  is  held 
near  the  end  of  an  iron  bar  100  feet  long  while  some  one 
strikes  the  other  end  with  a  hammer  two  distinct  sounds 
of  the  blow  are  heard,  the  first,  through  the  mass  of  the 
iron,  the  second,  after  an  interval,  through  the  air. 

The  mere  fact  then  that  radio  transmission  of  the 
voice  or  a  symphony  goes  over  the  country  in  all  direc- 
tions at  the  same  rate  as  electricity  and  light  indicates 
that  the  medium  of  transmission  is  no  ordinary  visible 
element,  but  that  mysterious  body  of  infinitely  small 
corpuscles  which  scientists  style  the  "ether". 

The  telephone  began  to  come  into  practical  use  in 
1879.  For  several  years  its  range  of  operation  was  short 
and  it  was  subject  to  violent  interferences  through  induc- 
tion. Talking  across  a  state  was  regarded  as  impossible. 
In  Detroit  conversation  frequently  had  to  be  suspended 
while  an  electric  car  passed  through  the  line  of  com- 
munication, for  the  roar  of  the  car  motors  drowned  all 
other  sounds.  It  was  not  until  1893  or  1894  that  long 
distance  communication  by  phone  was  opened  up 
between  Detroit  and  New  York  and  Chicago.  A  return 
wire  circuit  did  away  with  ground  induction.  The  old 
solid  carbon  Blake  transmitters  gave  place  to  better 
instruments  which  made  use  of  granulated  carbon. 

With  these  few  elementary  facts  in  mind  we  imme- 
diately give  rein  to  our  imaginations  and  begin  to  specu- 
late upon  the  future  development  of  radio  and  its  ulti- 
mate possibilities  and  applications.  The  prospect  stag- 
gers us,  because  we  realize  that  all  the  time  we  are 
merely  standing  upon  the  threshold  of  a  world  of  won- 
ders and  that  we  are  dealing  with  an  element  which  only 
exists  as  yet  in  theory  but  which  is  supposed  to  be  the 
basic  element  of  which  all  created  things  are  composed 
and  to  which  all  created  things  may  be,  by  some 
unknown  process,  again  converted.  It  is  the  substance 
of  all  matter  and  either  the  substance,  the  cause  or  the 
medium  of  all  energy. 


When  a  sleet  storm  smote  Lower  Michigan  in  the  early  spring  ot 
1922,  and  telephone  and  telegraph  wires  everywhere  broke  under 
their  burden  of  ice,  the  radiophone  was  the  salvation  of  many 
state  newspapers.  The  Associated  Press  and  other  news  agencies 
were  offered  the  use  of  Station  WWJ,  and  for  the  first  time  the 
press  received  its  state,  national  and  foreign  dispatches  by  radio 
The  illustration  shows  David  J.  Wilkie,  correspondent  of  the 
"A.  P.."  and  clippings  fiom  some  of  th<>  newspapers  which  availed 
jhemselyes  of  the  facilities  of  The  News. 


How   to   Make   Receiving  Sets 

ANYONE  may  make  and  operate  receiving  sets  by 
following  instructions  given  herewith.  All  parts  are 
called  by  their  radio  names,  but  their  functions  are  ex- 
plained in  plain,  untechnical  words  so  as  to  be  of  interest 
to  all  readers  whether  they  plan  to  buy  or  build. 

Three  complete  outfits  are  taken  up — an  ABC  or 
elementary  set,  an  intermediate  set,  and  an  advanced 
loud-speaking  set.  The  cost  of  making  or  assembling 
is  given — ranging  from  $8  for  the  first  to  $60  for  the 
second,  and  $100  for  the  third. 

The  average  ranges  of  the  three  are :  ABC  set,  normal, 
25  miles ;  exceptional,  250  miles.  Intermediate  set,  nor- 
mal, 100  miles ;  exceptional,  750  miles.  Advanced  set, 
normal,  150  miles;  exceptional,  1,500  miles. 

"Normal  range"  refers  to  the  distance  of  entirely  suc- 
cessful reception  of  Detroit  News  broadcasts  when  a  re- 
ceiving set  is  properly  operated  under  average  conditions. 
Even  under  unfavorable  conditions,  broadcasts  may  still 
be  heard  beyond  normal  range,  but  at  some  cost  in 
strength  or  quality. 

Between  the  given  "normal  range"  and  the  "excep- 
tional range" — even  beyond — is  a  broad  field  for  the  ama- 
teur to  explore;  and  the  thousands  of  letters  received  by 
WWJ  demonstrate  that  the  entire  North  American  con- 
tinent is  within  the  scope  of  this  station. 

In  the  summer  conditions  for  sending  are  often  un- 
favorable, due  chiefly  to  static  interference.  Conversely, 
in  winter  conditions  are  especially  favorable  for  trans- 
mission and  reception,  and  the  range  is  often  triple  or 
even  quadruple  that  in  summer  time.  Variations  in  re- 
ceiving may  be  due  to  many  conditions,  some  within  and 
some  beyond  the  power  of  the  recipient  to  alter. 


58  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

The  Elementary  Set 

T^HE  SIMPLEST  practical  receiving  apparatus  which 
A  one  may  build  or  assemble  at  home  is  called  the 
"crystal  detector  set."  The  total  cost  for  materials  and 
parts  can  be  kept  within  $8.00.  With  it  one  may  some- 
times hear  stations  hundreds  of  miles  away,  but  under 
ordinary  circumstances  its  practical  range  is  about  25 
miles. 

The  parts  are :  An  aerial,  a  single-slide  tuning  coil, 
a  crystal  detector,  a  phone,  a  ground  connection,  and  a 
lightning  protector.  This  does  not  include  a  loud- 
speaker or  a  horn,  but  special  and  expensive  equipment 
for  amplification  (increasing  the  volume  of  sound)  may 
be  added.  However  two  extra  phones  may  be  attached 
to  a  crystal  set  at  small  additional  expense,  so  that  from 
one  to  three  persons  may  listen  in. 

One  should  know  at  the  outset  something  about  each 
of  these  parts  so  that  he  may  recognize  them  by  various 
names  and  functions  as  he  goes  along. 

Aerial — An  aerial  is  also  called  an  antenna.  It  is  a 
wire,  or  wires  strung  in  the  air  or  arranged  on  a  frame  to 
catch  ether  waves.  Antennae  is  the  plural  of  antenna. 

Single-slide  tuning  coil — These  ether  waves,  elec- 
tro-magnetic, are  regulated  by  various  broadcasting  sta- 
tions at  the  various  lengths  required  by  law.  The  single- 
slide  tuning  coil  is  an  instrument  to  adjust  the  receiving 
set  to  the  same  length  of  wave  as  is  used  at  whatever 
station  you  wish  to  hear.  This  adjustment  is  called  "tun- 
ing in."  The  tuning  coil  is  copper  wire  wound  around 
a  cylinder  in  a  single  layer  of  close-fitting  turns.  On 
the  outside  of  this  cylinder  running  the  length  of  it  is  a 
brass  rod  called  the  slider  rod.  On  this  rod  is  a  brass 
contact  which  may  be  slid  along  on  the  rod  so  as  to 
touch  any  turn  of  the  wire,  thus  cutting  in  to  the  electric 
current  in  the  set  as  many  of  the  turns  of  wire  as  will 
be  required  to  tune  in. 

Crystal  Detector — Electric  currents  are  of  various 
kinds.  A  crystal  detector  is  a  device  to  change  the  elec- 
tric current  of  the  coil  into  the  particular  kind  we  need 


THE  ELEMENTARY   SET 

/  AERIAL 


59 


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^--^  ' 

GROUND 

Perspective   of  a  Crystal  Detector  Set 

for  hearing  purposes.  The  transmitting  station  sends  out 
an  alternating  current.  The  detector  changes  it  into  a 
direct  current,  which  is  the  kind  required  to  operate  the 
phone.  The  main  part  of  this  crystal  detector  is  a  sub- 
stance mined  out  of  the  earth — commonly  a  lead  ore, 
chemically  known  as  lead  sulphate,  commercially  as  ga- 
lena. This  ore  is  found  in  crystalline  form,  therefore 
called  a  crystal.  Strange  to  say,  it  is  the  chemical  struc- 
ture of  this  substance  which  changes  the  alternating  cur- 
rent to  direct,  because  it  allows  current  to  pass  through 
it  in  only  one  direction.  A  crystal  detector  comprises  a 
small  lump  of  crystal  of  no  particular  dimensions — say 


60  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

the  size  of  a  pea  or  a  hickory  nut — held  in  place  so  that 
the  top  surface  of  the  lump  can  be  touched  at  any  spot 
by  a  fine  phosphor-bronze  wire,  commonly  called  a  "cat- 
whisker". 

Phone — A  phone,  otherwise  known  as  a  receiver  or 
head-set,  is  an  instrument  to  change  electrical  vibrations 
into  mechanical  vibrations  in  such  a  way  that  they  are 
audible  to  the  human  ear.  The  common  telephone  re- 
ceiver is  the  same  thing  except  that  the  wireless  receiv- 
er is  more  sensitive.  The  phone  figured  in  this  set  is  a 
single-ear,  or  watch-case  receiver.  A  double-ear  phone 
may  be  procured  at  extra  expense. 

Ground-connection — In  most  electrical  work  there  is 
a  wire  for  current  to  go  out  and  another  wire  for  it  to 
come  back  on  to  the  starting  point — a  complete  circuit. 
In  wireless,  the  ether  serves  as  one  wire  and  the  earth  as 
the  return  wire — a  complete  circuit.  A  ground  connec- 
tion therefore  is  a  method  of  connecting  the  receiving 
set  with  the  earth.  This  connection  is  a  wire  that  runs 
from  the  set  to  a  metal  plate  buried  in  the  ground  or  to 
a  pipe  that  runs  into  the  ground. 

Lightning  protector — To  prevent  the  aerial  from 
carrying  lightning  into  the  house,  a  lightning  protector 
should  be  placed  on  the  aerial  wire  where  it  enters  the 
house,  and  another  ground  wire  from  the  protector  into 
the  ground  so  that  any  thunder-bolt  would  be  directed 
automatically  into  the  earth  instead  of  through  the  re- 
ceiving set.  A  lightning  protector  is  much  better  than 
a  lightning  switch,  which  therefore  need  not  be  described 
here. 

All  materials  or  parts  for  sets  may  be  bought  from 
electrical  or  radio  supply  houses.  The  following  are  the 
principal  items  to  be  purchased :  200  feet  of  No.  14  hard- 
drawn,  bare  or  insulated  copper  wire  and  two  or  more 
porcelain  cleats,  for  the  antenna;  a  lightning  protector; 
about  175  feet  of  No.  22  covered  or  enameled- copper  wire, 
for  the  coil ;  three  brass  binding-posts ;  a  slider  rod  and 
slider;  a  lump  of  crystal,  and  about  three  inches  of  fine 
phosphor-bronze  wire,  for  the  detector;  and  a  phone. 


THE  ELEMENTARY  SET  61 

The  simplest  form  of  aerial,  and  the  kind  best  for 
receiving  purposes,  is  one  continuous,  unbroken  string 
of  wire,  described  in  two  parts;  one,  the  part  which  is 
suspended  in  an  elevated,  horizontal  position  near  the 
receiving  station,  and  called  the  "flat  top" ;  the  other  part 
being  the  end  which  is  brought  down  to  the  receiving 
room,  and  is  called  the  "lead-in".  It  is  on  this  lead-in 
that  the  lightning  protector  is  placed  as  described  by  in- 
structions that  come  with  that  device. 

The  aerial  should  not  be  erected  near  or  over  any 
electric  .power  wire.  It  must  be  insulated  from  other 
wires  or  cords  which  are  used  to  suspend  it  in  the  air. 
Insulation  is  obtained  by  using  porcelain  cleats  to  join 
the  aerial  with  its  supports. 

If  there  is  insufficient  space  on  the  premises  for  a 
single  wire  about  200  feet  long,  two  or  more  parallel 
strands  spaced  three  feet  or  more  apart  may  be  erected, 
the  strands  in  all  totaling  the  200  feet.  All  strands,  of 
course,  must  be  similarly  insulated  with  porcelain  cleats ; 
and  the  lead-in  must  make  a  connection  with  each  strand, 
preferably  a  soldered  connection. 

A  single-slide  tuning  coil  can  be  made  by  winding 
about  175  feet  of  No.  22  wire  on  a  rolled-oats  box,  or 
paste  board  tube  at  least  three  inches  in  diameter,  and 
about  one  foot  long. 

End  pieces,  about  four  inches  square,  for  this  tube  and 
a  baseboard  for  it,  about  6  by  14  inches,  are  made  of 
wood.  The  end  pieces  are  nailed  to  the  baseboard.  The 
wire  coil  does  not  touch  the  baseboard. 

Either  on  the  baseboard,  or  end  pieces,  are  placed  the 
three  connection  posts,  or  binding-posts.  One  post  is 
labeled  A  for  aerial;  one  is  labeled  P  for  phone;  the 
other  G  for  ground. 

One  end  of  the  coil  of  wire  on  the  tube  leads  to  the 
aerial  binding-post,  to  which  also  is  fastened  the  lead-in 
from  the  aerial.  The  other  end  of  the  coil  makes  no  con- 
nection but  is  fastened  securely  to  the  tube  to  prevent 
unwinding. 


62  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

The  slider  rod  which  carries  the  slider,  which  in  turn 
makes  contact  with  the  wound  wire,  is  fastened  to  the 
two  end  pieces  by  screws  or  staples.  And  so  that  the 
slider  may  make  contact  with  each  turn  of  the  coil,  the 
enamel  or  insulation  on  the  wire  is  removed  with  a  piece 
of  sandpaper  along  the  path  traveled  by  the  slider. 

To  make  the  simplest  form  of  crystal  detector,  a  thin 
piece  of  copper  sheet  is  cut  about  1  or  \%  inches  square. 
The  corners  are  bent  up  to  form  grips  for  the  lump  of 
crystal.  A  nail  or  screw  through  the  center  of  this 
piece  of  copper  fastens  it  to  the  base  board.  Before  the 
nail  is  driven  down  tight,  the  end  of  a  small  piece  of 
copper  wire  is  fastened  around  the  nail  underneath  the 
copper  plate.  The  other  end  of  this  piece  of  wire  is 
fastened  to  the  slider  rod.  Instead  of  the  copper  square, 
a  paper  clamp  or  suspender  clip  may  be  used  to  hold  the 
galena. 

About  one  or  two  inches  from  the  crystal  another 
nail  or  screw  is  driven  into  the  baseboard.  Before  being 
driven  tightly,  one  end  of  the  cat-whisker  wire  which  is 
about  3  inches  long,  is  wound  around  this  nail,  as  is  also 
the  end  of  a  small  piece  of  copper  wire  which  runs  to  the 
phone  binding-post.  The  loose  end  of  the  cat-whisker 
is  curved,  in  an  arc,  so  that  it  touches  the  crystal. 

A  wire  from  the  ground  binding-post  runs  to  a  water 
or  steam  pipe ;  but  never  a  gas  pipe,  because  it  is  an  un- 
reliable if  not  dangerous  conductor.  The  pipe  should  be 
cleansed  of  all  paint  or  corrosion  at  point  of  connection. 
Where  there  is  no  such  pipe  a  copper  plate  about  a  foot 
square  may  be  buried  to  a  depth  where  the  ground  is 
always  damp ;  or  an  iron  pipe  may  be  driven  five  or  six 
feet  into  the  ground.  This  plate  or  pipe  is  then  connect- 
ed to  a  wire  which  runs  to  the  ground  binding-post  on 
the  receiving  set. 

To  operate  this  set  the  phone  is  placed  to  the  ear,  and 
the  slider  moved  along  the  coil  until  transmitting  signals 
can  be  heard.  The  cat-whisker  is  changed  to  different 
spots  on  the  crystal  until  a  contact  is  made  that  proves 
best.  All  connections  should  be  tested  now  and  then  for 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  SET  63 

security  and  sometimes  a  fresh  lump  of  crystal  and  a  new 
cat-whisker  must  be  bought,  but  there  is  no  other  cost 
of  up-keep. 

Amplification  of  sound  is  possible  with  this  set,  but 
the  purchase  of  the  extra  equipment  required  would  mean 
an  added  expense  approaching  $200  for  a  two-stage  am- 
plifier with  accompanying  tubes  and  batteries,  and  a 
loud-speaker  with  horn.  Good  adjustment  of  the  ampli- 
fier will  yield  as  pure  a  tone  as  is  yet  obtainable  with 
any  set,  but  this  amplification  does  not  in  any  way  in- 
crease the  range  of  the  set. 

Experiments  to  date  lead  us  to  believe  that  satisfac- 
tory amplification  is  not  to  be  expected  by  the  average 
amateur  when  the  volume  of  sound  in  the  head-phone  is 
weak.  Many  persons  prefer  head-phones  to  horns  any- 
way, because  they  do  not  involve  highly  sensitive  ad- 
justment to  obtain  the  same  quality.  How  to  make  an 
amplifier  and  horn  at  a  cost  of  $50  for  materials  is  told  in 
the  description  of  the  third,  or  advanced  set. 


The   Intermediate   Set 

THE  "intermediate  set"  is  often  called  a  "vacuum  tube 
detector  set"  because  a  tube  is  used  instead  of  a 
crystal.  Ordinarily  this  set  has  a  range  of  about  100 
miles. 

For  the  amateur,  this  is  largely  an  assembled  job. 
He  buys  the  parts  ready-made  and  connects  them,  or 
the  set  may  be  bought  assembled. 

The  total  cost,  for  the  amateur  who  makes  or  as- 
sembles his  set,  is  about  $60.00,  distributed  as  follows: 
Antenna,  $1.50;  lightning  protector,  $2.50;  loose-coupler 
or  other  type  of  receiving  transformer,  $9.00;  two  vari- 
able condensers,  $4.00  each ;  hard  vacuum  tube  detector, 
$6.50;  vacuum  tube  socket,' $1.00;  stopping  condenser 
(.00025  microfarad)  and  grid  leak  (1  or  2  megohm),  50 
cents;  filament  rheostat  (6-ohm),  $1.10;  pair  of  2,000- 
ohm  phones,  $8.00;  an  A  or  filament  battery  (6-volt,  80 


THE  INTERMEDIATE  SET  65 

ampere-hour)  storage,  $15.00;  a  B  or  plate  battery 
(22^-volt),  $2.50.  A  loose-coupler  may  be  manufactured 
by  the  amateur  at  a  cost  of  $4.00  for  materials.  The  only 
other  thing  to  be  made  by  him  is  the  antenna. 

Now,  for  a  description  of  the  parts  and  how  they 
function.  To  begin  with,  let  us  understand  that  in  the 
ABC,  or  elementary  set,  previously  described,  we  had  but 
one  circuit  for  electrical  energy ;  but  that  in  the  inter- 
mediate set  we  provide  three  circuits,  namely :  a  primary 
(or  first)  ;  a  secondary  (or  second)  ;  and  a  detection 
amplifying  circuit. 

The  first  two  circuits  are  for  "selectivity" — in  other 
words,  obtaining  a  better  rejection  of  interference,  or,  to 
express  it  still  more  simply,  tuning  out  more  of  what  we 
don't  wish  to  hear  than  would  be  possible  with  but  one 
circuit.  The  third  circuit  is  for  two  purposes,  detection 
as  explained  in  the  ABC  set  (the  changing  of  the  alter- 
nating current  into  direct  current),  and  raising  sound  to 
a  larger  volume. 

Taking  up  these  three  circuits  one  at  a  time  we  have  : 

Primary  circuit — There  are  five  instruments  or  parts 
that  are  linked  in  the  primary  circuit :  (a)  the  antenna : 
(b)  lightning  protector ;  (c)  slider  tuning  coil  (called  the 
primary  inductance  coil)  and  (d)  a  variable  condenser 
which  is  connected  with  this  coil  and  the  ground.  A  vari- 
able condenser  is  an  instrument  to  assist  the  slider  in 
getting  a  finer  adjustment  of  tuning.  The  slider  tunes 
in,  in  steps,  by  sliding  from  one  turn  of  wire  on  the  coil 
to  the  next  turn.  But  a  step  from  one  turn  to  the  next 
is  too  large  a  jump  for  really  fine  adjustment,  so  the  con- 
denser is  used  to  work  in  a  closer  adjustment  between 
the  turns.  The  fifth  part  of  this  circuit  is  (e)  the  ground 
connection. 

Secondary  circuit — There  are  two  instruments  or 
parts  in  the  secondary  circuit :  (a)  a  secondary  inductance 
coil ;  and  (b)  a  variable  condenser,  just  like  the  one  in 
the  first  circuit.  This  secondary  inductance  coil  is  one 
that  fits  inside  the  primary  inductance  coil  of  the  first 
circuit  and  is  so  arranged  that  the  inside  one  can  slide 


66  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


in  and  out  of  the  outside  one  without  touching  it  at  any 
point.  These  two  coils,  when  purchased,  come  assembled 
in  one  instrument  called  a  "loose-coupler."  This  is  how 
a  loose-coupler  works :  Electric  energies  of  different 
strengths,  from  different  stations,  come  through  the 
ether,  down  the  antenna,  to  the  primary  coil.  We  wish 
to  pass  this  current  to  the  secondary  coil,  and  a  coupling 
is  merely  an  arrangement  of  the  primary  and  secondary 
coils  for  the  passage  of  the  current  in  a  regulated  way. 
When  we  say  the  coupling  is  "loose",  we  mean  that,  in 
the  adjustment,  the  secondary  coil  has  been  slid  far 
enough  away  from  the  primary  so  that  only  that  partic- 
ular energy  which  has  been  tuned  in  on  the  primary  coil 
is  strong  enough  to  transfer  through  the  intervening 
space  to  the  secondary  coil  with  any  degree  of  strength — 
thus  leaving  behind  most  of  the  weak  or  rejected  energies 
which  we  do  not  wish  to  receive.  In  this  way  we  have 
what  is  called  a  loose  inductive  coupling — a  passing  of  a 
selected  energy  from  the  primary  to  the  secondary  cir- 
cuit without  any  wire  connection  between  them. 

Now  that  we  have  the  coupling  adjusted  to  receive 
the  tuned-in  wave  from  the  primary  circuit,  we  are  ready 
to  tune  the  secondary  circuit  in  harmony  (or  resonance) 
with  the  primary — so  that  the  selected  energy  may  be 
passed  along  to  the  third  circuit. 

Detection-amplifying  circuit — Here  we  are  ready 
for  detection  (changing  from  an  alternating  to  a  direct 
current  so  that  the  phones  will  operate),  and  for  amplify- 
ing the  current  so  that  we  shall  hear  the  sounds  more 
plainly.  In  this,  the  third  circuit,  there  are  eight  instru- 
ments or  parts :  (a)  a  hard  vacuum  tube ;  (b)  a  vacuum 
tube  socket ;  (c)  one  B  battery ;  (d)  a  pair  of  phones ;  (e) 
an  A  battery ;  (f  )  a  filament  current  rheostat ;  (g)  a  grid 
condenser  and  with  it  (h)  a  grid  leak. 

First  of  importance  in  this  last  circuit  is  the  vacuum 
tube.  This  serves  as  the  detector  (in  place  of  the  crystal 
in  the  ABC  set)  and  it  has  a  further  purpose  in  that  it  is 
a  medium  for  amplification. 

This  tube  is  called  a  3-element  vacuum  tube  because  it 


-66v6+ 

STORAGE  22W 

BATTERY         DRYCELLS 

Schematic   Showing  Hook-up  of   Intermediate   Set. 


Schematic  Showing  Hook-up  of  Advanced  Set 


68  WWJ— THE  DETROIT   NEWS 

has  three  elements  in  it:  a  filament,  a  grid,  and  a  plate. 
The  filament  is  a  fine  wire  in  the  center  of  the  tube ;  the 
grid,  a  wire  mesh  around  the  filament ;  the  plate,  small 
sheets  of  solid  metal  or  a  cylinder  around  the  other  two. 

The  purpose  of  the  filament  is  to  make  the  vacuum 
in  the  tube  a  conductor  of  current  in  this  wise :  From  the 
filament,  when  heated,  there  come  those  minute  particles 
of  material  called  electrons  (negative  element  of  elec- 
tricity) and  ions  (the  positive  element).  These  fill  the 
space  in  the  tube  and  make  a  conductor  of  it.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  grid  is  to  regulate  the  amount  and  character 
of  current  passed  through  the  vacuum.  The  purpose  of 
the  plate  is  to  provide  a  means  of  carrying  away  the  cur- 
rent from  the  tube. 

In  general  there  are  two  kinds  of  tubes,  "soft"  and 
"hard."  The  latter  is  more  nearly  a  vacuum  tube,  that  is, 
has  more  of  the  air  pumped  out  of  it.  It  is  therefore 
called  a  high,  or  hard  vacuum ;  the  other  a  low,  or  soft, 
vacuum.  Generally,  soft  tubes  can  be  used  only  as  de- 
tectors and  not  as  amplifiers,  and  hard  tubes  only  as 
amplifiers ;  but  with  the  use  of  a  grid  condenser  and  a 
grid  leak,  which  are  hooked-up  with  the  grid  in  the  tube, 
a  hard  tube  can  be  used  in  this  set  both  as  a  detector  and 
as  an  amplifier,  at  the  same  time  rendering  the  volume  of 
sound  much  greater  than  obtained  in  any  other  way. 

The  B  battery  is  hooked  into  this  circuit  to  increase 
the  strength  of  the  energy  that  is  taken  from  the  plate, 
so  that  it  is  passed  along  to  the  phones  with  the  result  that 
the  volume  of  sound  is  estimated  to  be  25  times  greater 
than  from  the  best  crystal  detector.  Some  makes  of 
hard  tube  require  higher  plate  voltage.  If  22^  volts 
are  found  to  be  insufficient,  use  45  volts. 

We  use  the  A  battery  to  heat  the  filament  in  the  tube, 
it  being  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  tube  that  it  will 
not  transmit  energy  until  the  filament  is  heated  so  as  to 
free  electrons  and  ions  from  it. 

Now,  we  have  to  prevent  this  filament  from  burning 
out  while  we  are  making  the  little  electrons  and  ions  per- 
form ;  so  we  have  a  filament  rheostat  (a  resistance  meas- 


THE  ADVANCED  SET  69 

urer)  hooked-up  with  the  filament,  as  a  safety  device  to 
limit  the  amount  of  current  going  through  it. 

The  second  and  third  circuits  are  connected  through 
the  tube.  The  instruments  and  the  circuits  are  hooked- 
up  as  shown  in  the  sketch. 

In  order  to  receive  with  this  set,  the  vacuum  tube  is 
lighted  by  rotating  the  rheostat  lever;  the  secondary  or 
inner-coil  is  set  half-way  inside  the  primary  or  outside 
coil.  The  variable  condenser  is  turned  at  first  to  "mini- 
mum" as  indicated  on  it.  The  secondary  is  varied  in  and 
out  of  the  primary  until  the  desired  signal  is  heard,  after 
which  the  variable  condenser  is  adjusted  until  the  max- 
imum strength  of  that  signal  is  obtained.  A  careful  re- 
adjustment of  the  loose-coupler  and  of  the  variable  con- 
denser may  produce  increased  selectivity  and  signal 
strength.  The  connection  leading  from  the  phones  to 
the  B  battery  should  be  moved  from  tap  to  tap  as  found 
on  the  battery,  and  the  plate  current  thus  increased  or 
decreased  until  the  maximum  signal  strength  is  obtained. 

The  cost  of  operating  this  set  involves  buying  a  new 
tube  about  every  three  months,  ($6.50)  ;  charging  the  A 
battery  every  two  weeks  (75  cents)  ;  and  replacing  the 
B  battery  every  three  months  ($2.50). 


The  Advanced   Set 

AN  "advanced  receiving  set" — one  still  better  than  the 
intermediate — may    be    constructed    within    a    total 
cost  of  $100  by  using  the  intermediate  set,  previously  de- 
scribed, as  a  base,  making  one  change  therein,  and  adding 
a  two-stage  amplifier  and  a  home-made  loud-speaker. 

Vario-coupler — The  change,  an  important  one,  con- 
sists of  substituting  for  the  loose-coupler  a  vario-coupler. 
Each  of  these  instruments  uses  a  pair  of  inductance  coils, 
though  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  pairs  are 
different.  In  the  vario-coupler,  the  primary  coil  is  cylin- 
drical and  the  secondary  somewhat  barrel-shaped,  re- 
volving on  a  fixed  axis  near  one  end  of  the  cylinder. 


70  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

Variations  in  the  tuning  of  the  inductance  of  the  pri- 
mary coil  are  obtainable  by  taps  which  are  brought  out 
from  various  turns  in  the  primary  coil  to  a  multi-point 
switch.  In  tuning  the  primary,  the  variable  condenser 
which  is  between  the  coil  and  the  "ground"  now  plays  a 
more  important  role  in  refined  tuning,  because  it  has  to 
tune  in  at  points  between  several  turns  of  the  primary 
coil  as  represented  by  the  taps,  instead  of  between  just 
two  turns  as  in  the  intermediate  set. 

The  secondary  of  the  vario-coupler  has  fewer  turns 
of  wire  than  the  secondary  of  the  loose-coupler,  and  in 
the  former  all  turns  are  used  in  every  adjustment.  This 
means  that  we  accomplish  all  tuning  of  the  secondary  by 
manipulating  the  condenser  in  the  secondary  circuit. 

Since  the  secondary  coil  of  the  vario-coupler  turns 
on  its  axis  near  one  end  of  the  primary  instead  of  sliding 
in  and  out  as  in  the  case  of  the  loose-coupler,  a  greater 
variation  of  coupling  can  be  obtained  with  a  vario-coupler 
— ranging  from  zero  (when  the  secondary  is  set  at  right 
angles  to  the  primary)  on  up  to  the  maximum  (when  the 
two  coils  are  parallel).  A  vario-coupler  can  be  bought 
for  about  $6. 

Amplifier — The  parts  of  a  two-stage  amplifier  and 
the  cost  thereof  on  the  market  are :  Two  inner-tube 
transformers,  $5  each ;  2  hard  vacuum  tubes,  $6.50  each ; 
2  vacuum  tube  sockets,  $1  each ;  8  binding  posts,  25  cents 
each;  2  six-ohm  filament  current  rheostats,  $1.10  each;  2 
blocks  of  B  battery  (22^  volts),  $2.50  each;  suitable 
panel  and  box,  rough  materials  for  which  could  be  bought 
for  about  $10.  The  A  battery  of  the  intermediate  set 
can  be  used  as  filament  current  supply  for  amplifying 
tubes  as  well  as  for  the  detector  tube. 

Loud-speaker — A  serviceable  instrument  can  be 
made  as  follows :  Procure  at  a  cost  of  about  $1  a  sheet  of 
zinc  about  46x36  inches ;  cut  and  roll  and  solder  to  make 
a  conical  megaphone  36  inches  long,  14  inches  in  diameter 
at  the  larger  end  and  1  inch  in  diameter  at  the  smaller. 
With  a  piece  of  zinc  about  3^x3  inches,  make  a  tube  3 
:nches  long  and  1  inch  in  diameter  to  receive  the  small  end 


THE  ADVANCED  SET  71 

of  the  megaphone.  Obtain  two  zinc  caps  from  Mason 
jars,  and  cut  in  the  centers  of  them  holes  1  inch  in 
diameter  to  receive  the  two  ends  of  the  little  tube.  Fit 
the  receivers  of  the  head-phone  in  these  caps  and  hold 
them  tightly  in  position  by  a  spring  or  other  contrivance. 

The  receivers  used  with  this  loud-speaker  should  be 
modified  as  follows :  Unscrew  the  caps  and  take  out  the 
diaphragms,  cut  bond-linen  paper  washers  the  same  size 
as  the  diaphragms,  with  the  inner  diameter  J^>  inch  less 
than  the  outside  diameter,  the  rim  of  the  washer  thus 
being  %  mcn  wide.  Put  these  washers  between  the 
diaphragms  and  the  cups  of  the  receivers  and  screw  down 
the  caps.  The  washers  are  for  the  purpose  of  lifting  the 
diaphragms  further  from  the  pole  pieces  in  the  receivers 
so  that  the  diaphragms  will  vibrate  more  freely  when 
using  the  greater  power. 

Now  we  have  a  complete  amplifier  and  loud-speaker 
at  a  cost  within  about  $50.  While  zinc  is  preferred  to 
other  metals,  a  further  improvement  would  result  if 
pasteboard,  papier-mache  or  wood  were  used  instead  of 
zinc  in  making  the  horn.  There  are  also  purchasable 
devices  which  make  possible  the  use  of  phonograph 
horns. 

Connecting  and  Operating — The  amplifier  and 
loud-speaker  are  connected  as  shown  in  the  wiring 
diagram.  To  operate  the  amplifier,  the  filament  current 
rheostats  are  adjusted  in  the  same  manner  as  the  rheo- 
stat of  the  intermediate  set.  The  normal  range  of  this 
set  is  150  miles;  exceptional  range  1,500  miles. 

The  cost  of  operating  intermediate  and  advanced  sets 
is  the  same,  except  that,  with  the  latter,  two  additional 
vacuum  tubes  and  the  extra  battery  supply  must  be 
maintained. 

Note :  There  are  two  main  types  of  so-called  ad- 
vanced sets — the  vacuum-tube  detecting  and  amplifying 
set,  as  above  described,  and  the  "regenerative  set"  known 
to  many  amateurs.  The  intermediate  set  can  be  given 
a  hook-up  to  make  it  a  regenerative  set  and,  with  careful 
handling,  such  a  hook-up,  with  but  one  stage  of  amplifica- 


72  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

tion,  will  give  results  nearly  equal  to  a  two-stage  amplifi- 
cation with  any  other  kind  of  a  hook-up.  But  the  re- 
generative hook-up  as  generally  used  by  amateurs  is  not 
described  here  because  it  has  been  found  to  be  objection- 
able on  the  ground  that  it  is  difficult  to  operate,  and 
because  oscillations  in  the  detector  tube  make  of  the  set 
a  miniature  transmitter  which  sends  out  waves  at  the 
same  time  it  is  receiving,  and  consequently  cause  inter- 
ference with  other  nearby  receiving  sets. 

A    Simple    Antenna 

IN  AN  antenna  or  aerial  that  is  to  be  used  only  for 
receiving,  it  is  unnecessary  to  have  more  than  one 
wire.  For  best  results  on  the  short  waves  the  total  length 
of  the  antenna  (from  the  far  end  to  the  ground  connec- 
tion) should  be  200  feet  long,  from  25  to  50  feet  high,  and 
should  not  run  parallel  to  any  electric  light  wires  or  un- 
der or  through  any  branches  of  trees  which  might  be 
blown  against  it.  The  wire  used  may  be  bare  or  insul- 
ated. 

The  further  the  receiving  set  is  from  the  station,  the 
more  necessary  it  is  to  have  a  long,  high  antenna.  While 
a  100-foot  antenna,  and  even  such  makeshifts  as  bed- 
springs,  give  results  near  sending  stations,  it  is  advisable 
to  provide  a  high  class  aerial  composed  of  200  feet  of 
wire.  This  will  make  your  set  reach  its  maximum 
efficiency. 

The  flat-top  (a)  of  the  antenna  as  shown  in  the  ac- 
companying diagram  and  the  antenna's  lead-in  (b)  should 
be  one  continuous  piece  of  wire ;  but,  if  in  two  separate 
pieces,  then  the  connection  at  (c)  should  be  soldered.  (D) 
and  (d)  represent  two  high  supports — mast,  top  of  tree,  or 
building — between  which  the  flat-top  (a)  is  stretched  taut 
horizontally;  (e)  and  (e)  are  insulators,  which  may  be 
porcelain  cleats  or  any  other  good  strain  variety,  to  which 
the  flat-top  (a)  is  fastened  at  (e)  and  (e).  The  insulators 
are  in  turn  fastened  to  the  supports  (d)  and  (d)  by  means 
of  pieces  of  wire  or  rope  (f)  and  (f). 


A  SIMPLE  ANTENNA  73 


Diagram  of  a  Simple  Aerial. 

The  lead-in  runs  down  to  a  lightning  protector  (g)  or 
to  a  lightning  switch.  A  protector  is  preferred  to  a 
switch ;  but  when  a  switch  is  used  the  lead-in  connects 
with  the  blade.  (H)  is  a  piece  of  pipe  driven  5  or  6  feet 
into  the  ground  and  connected  to  the  antenna  through 
the  protector  or  switch  (g)  by  means  of  a  piece  of  number 
four  wire  (i)  to  the  receiving  set,  passing  into  the  house 
through  the  window  frame  or  casement  by  means  of  the 
porcelain  tube  (k).  To  keep  the  lead-in  from  touching 
the  roof  it  may  be  necessary  to  pass  it  around  or  through 
an  insulator  on  a  support,  as  at  (1). 

The  ground  wire  may  be  connected  to  a  water  or 
steam  pipe,  or  to  a  piece  of  buried  metal,  or  to  both,  but 
should  not  be  attached  to  a  gas  pipe,  which  is  unsatis- 
factory, if  not  dangerous. 

Any  lightning  switch  must  be  thrown  to  "ground 
position"  for  the  period  of  any  local  thunder  storm ;  and 


74  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

it  should  also  be  at  ground  position  when  the  set  is  not 
in  use.  When  a  lightning  protector  is  used  in  place  of 
a  switch,  of'course  there  is  no  switch  that  need  be  thrown. 
But  with  or  without  such  a  protector,  no  set  should  be 
used  during  a  period  of  near-by  thunder  and  lightning. 

Problems   of   the   Amateur 

FOLLOWING  are  answers  to  some  of  the  questions 
.  most  commonly  put  to  the  technical  staff  of  WWJ, 
usually  by  beginners: 

Ques. — Would  an  aerial  consisting  of  100  feet  of  wire 
made  up  in  four  strands  25  feet  long  be  as  good  as  a  sin- 
gle wire  100  feet  in  length  for  receiving  the  broadcasts? 

Ans. — The  single  100-foot  wire  is  much  better  than 
the  four-wire,  25-foot  aerial. 

Ques. — How  far  can  I  receive  with  a  crystal  detector 
receiving  set? 

Ans. — The  distance  at  which  you  can  receive  with  any 
type  of  detector  depends  on  the  power  of  the  transmit- 
ting station  whose  signals  you  desire  to  hear.  There  is  a 
great  difference,  however,  in  the  sensitiveness  of  various 
detectors,  the  crystal  being  much  less  efficient  than  the 
vacuum  tube.  Judging  by  correspondence  received  at 
WWJ  the  crystal  detector  can  be  depended  on  to  receive 
Detroit  News  concerts  at  a  distance  of  from  25  to  50 
miles.  Many  letters  indicate  our  signals  have  been  heard 
as  far  as  250  miles,  but  this  is  not  common.  One  amateur 
reports  hearing  WWJ  445  miles  away  with  a  home  made 
crystal  detector  set. 

Ques. — Is  it  necessary  to  have  a  government  license 
to  operate  a  receiving  set? 

Ans. — No.  A  government  license  is  only  necessary 
when  one  operates  a  sending  station  in  the  United  States, 
but  laws  recently  enacted  in  Canada  specify  licenses  for 
both  sending  and  receiving  stations. 

Ques. — Can  I  use  insulated  wire  for  an  aerial? 

Ans. — Insulated  wire  is  just  as  satisfactory  as  bare 
wire. 


76  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 

Ques. — How  many  stages  of  amplification  are  neces- 
sary to  operate  a  loud  speaker? 

Ans. — In  general  at  least  two  stages  of  amplification 
will  be  needed. 

Ques. — Can  a  loud  speaker  be  attached  to  a  crystal  de- 
tector receiving  set? 

Ans. — Generally  the  results  are  not  satisfactory  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  crystal  detector  does  not  pass  enough 
current. 

Ques. — Can  I  amplify  the  signals  from  a  crystal  de- 
tector? 

Ans. — The  signals  can  be  amplified,  but  generally  the 
results  are  not  entirely  satisfactory  owing  to  the  fact  that 
a  crystal  detector  set  does  not  receive  signals  of  a  suffi- 
cient strength  unless  it  is  within  a  very  few  miles  of  a 
powerful  transmitting  station. 

Ques. — Why  am  I  not  able  to  receive  Chicago  and 
Pittsburgh?  I  use  a  crystal  detector. 

Ans. — In  general,  the  crystal  detector  is  not  sensitive 
enough  to  receive  from  such  dis'tant  points. 

Ques. — What  kind  of  condenser  is  best  for  keeping 
the  alternating  house  current  out  of  my  receiving  set 
when  using  the  light  wires  for  my  antenna? 

Ans. — A  fixed  condenser  with  mica  insulation  is  pref- 
erable to  one  with  paper  insulation.  About  20  square 
inches  of  tin  foil  should  be  used  to  make  the  condenser. 

Ques. — Is  a  lightning  switch  needed  for  an  inside 
aerial? 

Ans. — The  underwriters  do  not  require  a  lightning 
switch  for  an  indoor  aerial. 

Ques. — May  an  amateur  use  his  transmitting  set  dur- 
ing the  time  that  a  concert  is  being  broadcast? 

Ans. — The  amateur  has  as  much  right  to  transmit  as 
the  broadcasting  station,  providing  he  does  not  cause  ex- 
treme interference  with  those  who  are  listening  to  the 
broadcast.  In  general,  a  C.  W.  set  working  on  the  ama- 
teur wave  length  of  200  meters  will  not  interfere.  The 
spark  transmitter  probably  will  interfere,  even  though 
tuned  very  sharply  to  200  meters. 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  AMATEUR  77 

Ques.— Can  I  attach  my  aerial  to  the  telephone  or 
electric  light  poles,  and  does  it  matter  if  the  aerial  wires 
cross  the  house  lighting  wires? 

Ans. — Permission  should  be  obtained  from  the  owners 
before  aerials  are  fastened  to  poles.  The  Detroit  Edison 
Co.  does  not  permit  anyone  to  use  its  poles.  Aerial  wires 
must  never  run  across  or  parallel  to  any  power  or  light- 
ing wires. 

Ques. — Is  there  any  danger  attached  to  radio  receiv- 
ing? 

Ans. — None  whatever  excepting  danger  from  light- 
ning, obviated  by  lightning  arresters  or  switches,  and 
from  lack  of  caution  in  erecting  antenna  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  light  or  power  lines.  Receiving  sets  themselves 
are  harmless. 

Ques. — What  are  the  means  of  preventing  damage  by 
lightning  striking  an  aerial? 

Ans. — The  best  device  is  a  lightning  protector,  pur- 
chasable at  any  radio  supply  house,  and  accompanied 
by  directions  for  installing.  Next  best  is  a  so-called 
lightning  or  ground  switch.  However,  it  is  also  possible 
to  avoid  danger  during  electrical  storms  by  detaching 
aerial  and  ground  wires  from  the  receiving  set,  fastening 
them  together  so  as  to  form  an  electrical  connection,  in- 
sulating with  friction  tape  and  throwing  them  out  the 
window.  Then,  if  you  have  a  fixed  ground,  lightning, 
if  it  strikes  the  aerial,  will  pass  to  the  earth. 

Ques. — Is  it  possible  to  use  loud  speakers  and  not  have 
objectionable  overtones,  or  horn  noises  such  as  charac- 
terized old-fashioned  phonographs? 

Ans. — Yes.  Freedom  from  such  noises  depends 
wholly  upon  the  equipment.  A  high  class  set,  properly 
installed  and  operated,  will  yield  a  pure  tone  if  the  loud 
speaking  equipment  is  also  high  class. 

Ques. — Which  is  clearest  and  purest  in  tone,  within 
proper  range,  crystal  or  vacuum  tube  detector? 

Ans. — Probably  most  people  will  get  clearest  and  pur- 
est tones  from  crystal  sets.  The  vacuum  tube  sets  can 


78  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS- 

be  tuned  down  to  the  same  purity,  but  few  are  willing 
to  sacrifice  strength  for  quality. 

Ques. — What  ohmage  in  head  phones  gives  best  re- 
sults? 

Ans. — Any  standard  make  phone  of  2000  or  more  ohms 
will  give  good  results  under  proper  conditions.  If  you 
have  a  crystal  detector  set,  get  such  phones  and  then  try 
out  crystals  until  you  get  one  which  gives  best  results. 
The  mere  fact  that  a  set  is  of  3000  ohms  resistance  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  it  is  better  than  a  2000  ohm  set. 
Any  standard  make  of  2000  ohms  or  more  should  give 
good  results  with  vacuum  tube  sets  properly  constructed 
and  operated.  Some  unscrupulous  manufacturers  have 
wound  pole  pieces  with  high  resistance  wire,  thereby 
giving  high  ohmage  to  phones,  but  the  result  is  a  decid- 
edly inferior  set. 

Ques. — What  should  be  the  relative  size  of  ground  and 
lead-in  wires? 

Ans. — Ground  wires  should  always  be  larger  than 
aerial  and  lead-in.  The  insurance  underwriters  specify 
No.  4  ground  wires.  Lead-in  wires  need  not  be  heavy ; 
No.  14  is  commonly  used. 

Ques. — Is  there  any  loss  in  receiving  if  aerial  and  lead- 
in  are  made  of  various  sizes  of  wire,  pieced  together. 

Ans. — It  is  better  to  have  only  the  one  piece  of  wire ; 
but  properly  connected  at  all  junctions  (preferably  with 
solder)  your  patchwork  antenna  will  give  good  results. 

Ques. — Can  I  use  two  receiving  sets  on  one  aerial  and 
get  good  results? 

Ans. — Two  receiving  sets  cannot  be  used  on  one  aerial 
with  any  degree  of  satisfaction  since  tuning  one  set  puts 
the  other  out  of  tune ;  also  two  sets  on  one  aerial  reduce 
signal  strength.  By  chance,  two  sets  may  give  surpris- 
ingly good  results  on  a  single  antenna  if  near  a  powerful 
sending  station,  but  such  results  are  to  be  classed  as 
freakish. 


80  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


Government   Regulations 

UNDER  the  Act  of  Congress  of  August  13,  1912,  am- 
ateurs are  forbidden  to  transmit  interstate  messages 
by  radio  without  a  license  issued  by  the  Department  of 
Commerce.  When  the  effect  of  such  transmission  does 
not  extend  beyond  the  jurisdiction  of  the  state  in  ques- 
tion the  transmission  without  license  is  permissible. 

Any  transmitting  station  which  interferes  with  the 
receipt  of  messages  from  stations  in  other  states  must 
have  a  license,  even  though  its  own  messages  are  kept 
within  the  state  in  which  it  is  located.  Of  course  no 
license  is  required  in  this  country  for  receiving  sets. 

Some  of  the  regulations  in  force  in  1922  affecting 
amateurs  and  also  commercial  broadcasting  stations  may 
be  summarized  thus : 

At  all  stations,  if  the  transmitter  is  of  such  a  character 
that  energy  can  be  radiated  in  two  or  more  wave 
lengths,  the  energy  in  no  one  of  the  lesser  waves  shall 
exceed  10  per  cent  of  that  in  the  greatest. 

All  stations  are  required  to  give  absolute  priority  to 
signals  and  radiograms  relating  to  ships  in  distress. 

All  stations  shall  use  the  minimum  amount  of  power 
necessary  to  carry  on  reliable  communication,  except  in 
the  case  of  ships  in  distress. 

No  person  shall  divulge  the  contents  of  messages 
coming  to  his  knowledge. 

Misdemeanors  in  the  radio  field  are  punishable  by 
fines  ranging  from  $25  to  $5,000,  and  in  many  cases  in- 
volve the  revocation  of  the  offender's  license.  Some  of 
these  offenses  are : 

Wilfully  interfering  with  any  other  radio  communi- 
cation. 

Transmitting  false  signals  or  fraudulent  messages  of 
any  kind. 

Operating  without  a  license,  which  is  punishable  by 
a  fine  of  $500  and  confiscation  of  equipment. 

Those  living  in  Detroit  who  wish  to  transmit  should 
make  application  to  the  United  States  Radio  Inspector, 


GOVERNMENT  REGULATIONS  81 

405  Postoffice  Building,  Detroit,  Mich.  The  way  to  com- 
municate with  any  other  district  headquarters  is  to 
address  the  letter  to  the  United  States  Radio  Inspector, 
naming  the  district  and  the  city  where  his  office  is. 

America  is  divided  into  nine  districts,  the  geographi- 
cal divisions  of  which  follow,  the  city  named  in  each 
case  being  the  headquarters  for  that  district : 

1.  Boston,   Mass.:     Maine,    New    Hampshire,   Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut. 

2.  New  York,  N.  Y. :     New  York   (county  of  New 
York,  Staten  Island,  Long  Island,  and  counties  on  the 
Hudson  River  to  and  including  Schenectady,  Albany  and 
Rensselaer)   and  New  Jersey  (counties  of  Bergen,  Pas- 
saic,  Essex,  Union,  Middlesex,  Monmouth,  Hudson  and 
Ocean). 

3  and  4.  Baltimore,  Md. :  New  Jersey  (all  counties 
not  included  in  second  district),  Pennsylvania  (counties 
south  of  the  Blue  Mountains,  and  Franklin  County), 
Delaware,  Maryland,  Virginia,  District  of  Columbia, 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Porto  Rico. 

5.  New  Orleans,  La. :    Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisi- 
ana,    Texas,     Tennessee,     Arkansas,     Oklahoma,     New 
Mexico. 

6.  San    Francisco,   Calif. :     California,    Hawaii,    Ne- 
vada, Utah,  Arizona. 

7.  Seattle,    Wash.:      Oregon,    Washington,    Alaska, 
Idaho,  Montana,  Wyoming. 

8.  Detroit,    Mich.:    Michigan     (Lower    Peninsula), 
New  York  (all  counties,  excepting^  counties  on  the  Hud- 
son River  up  to  and  including  Rensselaer  County),  Penn- 
sylvania (counties  not  in  the  3rd  and  4th  districts),  and 
all  of  West  Virginia  and  Ohio. 

9.  Chicago,  111. :  Indiana,  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Michi- 
gan (Upper  Peninsula),  Minnesota,  Kentucky,  Missouri, 
Kansas,  Colorado,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  South  Dakota,  North 
Dakota. 


Directory   of   Broadcasting   Stations 

WWJ  is  not  a  person.  WWJ  is  The  Detroit  News 
radiophone  station.  WWJ  is  not  the  initials  of  any 
name.  It  is  a  symbol.  It  was  issued  to  The  Detroit 
News  by  the  Government  in  connection  with  the  Federal 
licensing  of  this  broadcasting  plant.  When  the  thous- 
ands of  members  of  the  Detroit  News  radio  family  hear 
a  voice  saying,  "This  is  WWJ,  The  Detroit  News,"  thev 
hear  a  voice  that  personifies  this  station  and  this  radio- 
phone service — but  it  isn't  always  the  same  voice.  It 
may  be  a  different  voice  for  the  various  schedules  of  the 
day,  but  always  the  voice  speaks  for  the  whole  radio- 
phone service  of  The  Detroit  News. 

All  private  broadcasting  call  signals  in  America  begin 
with  either  W  or  K.  All  U.  S.  Navy  station  calls  begin 
with  N.  This  alphabetical  allotment  to  America  was 
made  by  the  International  Radiotelegraphic  Convention. 

Following  is  an  alphabetical  list  of  the  broadcasting 
stations  licensed  by  the  Government  up  to  May  15,  1922. 
Revised  lists  are  published  in  the  "Radio  Service  Bullet- 
in," issued  monthly  by  the  Government  and  procurable 
from  the  Superintendent  of  Documents,  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington,  D.  C. 


Wave  Call 

Owner  of   Station.  Location  of  Station.   Lengths.  Signal. 

Alabama  Power  Co Birmingham,    Ala 360  WSY 

San  Antonio,  Tex 360  WCAR 

,  C.  P.  Colorado  Springs,   Col.  485  KHD 
Oakland,    Calif 360  KZM 


Alamo  Radio  Electric  Co... 
Aldrich  Marble  &  Granite  C( 

Allen,   Preston  D 

Altadena  Radio  Laboratory. 


Altadena,    Calif 360  KGO 

American  Radio   &  Research   Corp..  Medford    Hillside, Mass  360  WGI 

American  Tel.  &  Tel.   Co New  York  City 360  WBAY 

Anthony,   Earl  C Los  Angeles,   Calif....  360  KPI 

Arrow  Radio  Laboratories Anderson,    Ind 360  WMA 

Athens  Radio  Co Athens,    Ga 360  WAAV 

Atlanta  Journal   Atlanta,  Ga 360.485         WSB 

Atlantic-Pacific  Radio  Supplies  Co. .  Oakland,    Calif 360  KZY 

Auburn  Electrical  Co Auburn,   Me 360  WMB 


BROADCASTING  STATIONS 


83 


Bakersfield  Californian  
Bamberger  &  Co..  L  

..Bakerfield,    Calif  
..Newark.    N.    J  

360 
360 

KYI 
WOR 

Benwood  Co  
Bible  Institute  of  Los  Angelos  
Blue  Diamond  Electric  Co  

..St.  Louis,     Mo  
..Los  Angeles,   Calif.... 
..Hood   River,    Ore  
.  .  Peoria     111     

360 
360 
360 
360 

WEB 
KJS 
KQP 
WBAE 

Braun  Corporation  

.  .  Los   Angeles,    Calif.  .  . 

360 
360 

KXS 

WOE 

Bullock's  
Bush,  James  L  
Carlson  &  Simpson  , 

..Los  Angeles,  Caltf  
.  .  Tuscola,    111  
...San  Diego,  Calif  

360 
360 
360 
360 

KNN 
WDZ 
KDYO 
WPE 

Central  Radio  Service  

.  .  Decatur,  111  

360 
360 

WCAP 
WDM 

Chicago,  City  of  
Cino  Radio  Mfg.  Co  
City  Dye  Works  &  Laundry  Co.. 
Clark  University  
Coast  Radio  Co  
Columbia  Radio  Co 

..Chicago,    111  
.  .  Cincinnati.   O  
.  .  Los   Angeles,    CaJif  .  .  . 
.  .  Worcester,    Mass  
..Elmont,    Calif!    

360 
360,  485 
360 
360,  485 
360 
360 

WBU 
WIZ 
KUS 
WCN 
KUY 
WMC 

Commonwealth  Electric  Co  
Continental  Elec.  Supply  Co  
Cooper,  Irving  S  

..St.    Paul,    Minn  
.  .  Washington,    D.     C.  .  . 
..Los     Angeles,     Calif.. 
.     Wichita     Kans 

360 
360 
360 

360   485 

WAAH 
WIL. 
KZI 
WEY 

Cox,  Warren  R  
Crosley  Mfg.  Co  
Daily  News  Printing  Co  

...Cleveland,     Ohio..      .. 
.  .  Cincinnati,   O  

360 

360,  485 
360 

WHK 
WLW 
WWB 

Daily  States  Pub.  Co  
Dallas  City  of  . 

..New  Orleans,   La  
Dallas    Tex 

360 
360  485 

WCAG 
WRR 

Daniel  Alfred  P 

360 

WCAK 

'    . 

360 

WBAP 

DeForest  Radio  Co  
Deseret  News  
DETROIT  NEWS 

.  .  New    York,    N.    Y  
..Salt  Lake  City,   Utah. 
DETROIT     MICH 

360 

360 
360   485 

WJX 

KZN 
WWJ 

Detroit  Police  Department  
Diamond  State  Fibre  Co  

.  .  Detroit,   Mich  
.  .  Bridgeport,    Pa  

360 
360,  485 
360 

KOP 
WBACJ 
KFZ 

Doron  Brothers  Elec.  Co  
Doubleday-Hill  Elec.   Co  
Doubleclay-Hill  Elec.   Co  , 
Duck  Co.    William  B  

...Hamilton,     O  
.  .  Pittsburgh,    Pa  
...Washington,   D.   C.... 
.  .  Toledo,   O.    

360 
360 

360,  485 

WRK 
KQV 
WMU 
WHU 

Dunn  &  Co.,  J.  J  
Eastern  Radio  Institute  
Electric  Equipment  Co  
Electric  Lighting  &  Supply  Co.  .  . 
Electric  Lighting  Supply  Co  

.  .  Pasadena,    Calif  
.  .  Boston,    MasS  
..Erie,    Pa  
.  .  Hollywood,    Calif.     .  .  . 
.  .  Los  Angeles,  Calif.  .  .  . 

360 
360 
360 
360 
360 

KLB 
WAAJ 
WJT 
KGC 
KNX 

Electric  Power  &  Appliance  Co... 
Electric  Supply  Co  
Elliott  Electric  Co  

.  .  Yakima,  Wash  
.  .  Clearneld,   Pa  
.  .  Shreveport,    La  

360 
360 
360 
360 

KQT 
WPI 
WAAG 
KSL 

Erie  Radio  Co  
Erner  &  Hopkins  Co.,  The  
Examiner  Printing  Co  
Fair,  The  .., 

,  .  Erie.   Pa  

.  .  Columbus.   O  
...San    Francisco,    Calif. 
..Chicago,    111  

360 
360 
360 
360 

WSX 
WBAV 
KUO 
WGU 

84 


WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


Federal   Inst.  of  Radio  Telegraphy.. 
Federal  Telephone  &  Telegraph  Co.. 

Camden,  N.  J  
Buffalo.  N.  Y  
Zanesville  O 

360 

360,  485 
360 

WRP 
WGR 

Findley  Electric  Co  
First    Presbyterian    Church  
Ford    Motor    Co  
Fort  Worth  Record  
Foster-Bradbury  Radio  Store  
Free  Press,   The  

Minneapolis,  Minn.  ,  . 
Seattle,  Wash  
Dearborn,  Mich  
Fort  Worth,  Tex  
Yakima,  Wash  
Detroit,  Mich  
Schenectady,  N.  Y.  .  . 

360 
360 

360 
360 
360,  485 
360 

WCE 
KTW 
WWI 
AVPA 
KFV 
WCX 
WGY 

360 

WAAS 

Georgia  Railway  &  Power  Co.    (At- 
lanta Constitution)    
Gilbert   Co      A     C 

Atlanta,  Ga  

360,  485 
360 

WGM 
WCJ 

360 

WI^ 

Milwaukee  Wis  .... 

360 

WAAK 

Gould,    C.    O  
Great  Western  Radio  Corp  
Groves-Thorton  Hardware  Co  
Hale,   O.   A.   &  Co  :  

Stockton,  Calif  
Redwood  City.  Calif.. 
Huntington,  W.  Va.. 
San  Jose,  Cal  

360 
360 
360 
360 

KJQ 
KDYN 
WAAR 
KSC 
KPO 

Hallock  &  Watson  Radio  Service... 
Hamilton  Mfg.  Co  
Harmon,  Myron  (Y.  M.  C.  A.)  
Hatfleld  Electric  Co  
Hawley,  Willard  P.   Jr  
Herald   Publishing   Co  

Portland,  Ore  

Indianapolis,  Ind  
South  Bend,  Ind  
Indianapolis,  Ind  
Portland,  Ore  
Modesto  Calif  . 

360 

360 
360 
360 
360 
360 

KGG 
WLK 
WBAQ 
WOH 
KYG 
KXD 

Herrold    Charles  D 

San  Jose  Calif 

360 

KQW 

Hobrecht,   J.   C  

360 

KVQ 

Hollister-Miller   Motor   Co  
Holzwasser    Inc  
Howe.  Richard  H  
Hewlett,  Thomas  F.  J  
Hunter,  L.  M.  &  G.  L.  Carrington.. 
Hurlburt  Still  Electrical   Co  

Emporia,    Kans  
San  Diego,  Calif  
Granville,    O  
Philadelphia.  Pa  
Little   Rock.    Ark  
Houston,   Tex  

360 
360 
360 
960 
360 
360,  485 
360 

WAAZ 
KON 
WJD 
WGL 
WSV 
WEV 
WGV 

Iowa  Radio   Corporation  

Des  Moines.  la  

360 
360   485 

WHX 
WOI 

James  Milliken   University  
John  Fink  Jewelry  Co  
J.   &  M    Electric  Co  

Decatur,  111  
Fort  Smith,  Ark  
Utica  NY 

.360 
360 
360 

WBAO 
WCAC 
WSL 

K.  &  L.  Electric  Co  ,  
Kansas  State  Agri.  College  
Karlowa   Radio    Co  

McKeesport,  Pa  
Manhattan.  Kans.  ... 
Rock  Island,  111  

360 
485 
360,  485 

WIK 

WTG 

woe 

Kennedy  Co.,   Colin   B  
Kierulff  &  Co.,  C.  R  
Kluge,    Arno  A  
Kraft,    Vincent   I  
Lindsay-  Weatherill  &   Co  

Los  Altos,  Calif  
Los  Angeles,  Calif  
Los  Angeles,  Calif  
Seattle,  Wash  
Reedley  Calif 

360 
360 
360 
360,  485 
360 

KLP 
KHJ 
KQL 
KJR 

KMC 

Lorden.    Edwin    L  
Los  Angeles  Examiner  
Love   Electric   Co  

San  Francisco,  Calif.. 
Los  Angeles,  Calif  
Tacoma,  Wash  
New  Orleans  La 

360 
360 
360 
360 

KGB 
KWH 
KMO 
WWL 

Marietta  College   

Marietta.  O  

360 

WBAW 

BROADCASTING  STATIONS 


85 


Maxwell   Electric   Co  

.  .  Berkeley,    Calif  

360 

KRE 

May,    (Inc.)   D.   W  

Newark,   N.    J  

360 

WBS 

McBride   George  M  

.  .  Bay  City,  Mich  

300 

WTP 

McCarthy  Bros.   &  Ford  

.  .Buffalo,    N.    T  

360 

WWT 

Metropolitan    Utilities    Dtet  

..Omaha.    Neb  

360,  485 

WOU 

Meyberg  Co.,  Leo  J  

..Los   Angeles,    Calif... 

360.  485 

KYJ 

Meyberg  Co..  Leo  J  

..San    Francisco.    Calif. 

360,  485 

KDN 

Middleton.    Fred  M  

.  .  Moorestown,    N.    J.  .  .  . 

360 

WBAF 

Midland  Refining  Co  

.  .  El    Dorado,     Kans.  .  .  . 

485 

WAH 

Midland  Refining  Co  

.  .  Tulsa.  Okla  

485 

WEH 

Minnesota  Tribune  Co.  &  Anderso 

n- 

WAAL 

Beamish  Co  

.  .  Minneapolis,     Minn.  .  .  . 

360 

Missouri  State  Marketing  Bureau. 

..Jefferson  City,  Mo  

485 

WOS 

Modesto  Evening  News  

.  .  Modesta.    Calif  

360 

KOQ 

Montgomery  Light  &  Power  Co... 

.  .  Montgomery,    Ala  

360,  485 

WGH 

Mullins   Electric  Co.,    Wm.   A.... 

.  .  Tacoma,  Wash  

360 

KGB 

Mulrony,    Marion    A  

.  .  Honolulu,     Hawaii  

360 

KGU 

Nebraska   Wesleyan    University.  . 

.  .  Lincoln,  Neb  

360.  485 

WCAJ 

Nelson  Co.,  I.  R  

..Newark,    N.    J  

360 

WAAM 

Newburg  News  Ptg.  &  Pub.   Co.. 

..Newburg.    N.    T  

360 

WCAB 

New  England  Motor  Sales  Co  .  .  .  . 

.  .Greenwich.  Conn  

360 

WAAQ 

New  Mexico  College  

.  .  State  College,   N.  Mex 

360,  485 

KOB 

Newspaper    Printing    Co  

.  .  Pittsburgh,    Pa  

360 

WPB 

Noggle  Electric   Works  

.  .  Monterey,   Calif  

360 

KLN 

North   Coasts  Products  Co  

.  .  Aberdeen,   Wash  

360 

KNT 

Northern  Radio  &  Electric  Co.... 

.  .  Seattle.  Wash  

360 

KFC 

Northwestern    Radio    Co  

.  .  Portland,    Ode  

360 

KGN 

Nushawg    Poultry    Farm  

..New   Lebanon,    O  

360 

WPG 

Oklahoma  Radio  Shop... 

..Oklahoma  City,   Okla. 

360.  485 

WKY 

Omaha  Grain   Exchange  

.  .  Omaha.    Neb  

360 

WAAW 

Oregon   Inst.    of  Technology  

.  .  Portland,   Ore  

485 

KDYQ 

Oregonian    Publishing    Co  , 

.  .  Portland.    Ore  

360 

KGW 

Palladium   Printing   Co  

.  .  Richmond,  Ind  

360,  485 

WOZ 

Palmer  School  of  Chiropractic*... 

.  .  Davenport,  Iowa  

360.  485 

woe 

Paris  Radio  Electric  Co 

Paris     Tex 

360 

WTK 

Pasadena  Star-News  

.  .  Pasadena,    Calif  

360 

KDYR 

Penna    State  Police 

.  .  Harrisburgh,     Pa.     .  .  . 

360 

WEAK 

Philadelphia  Radiophone  Co  

..Philadelphia,  Pa  

360 

WCAU 

Pine   Bluff  Co  

.  .  Pine   Bluff,    Ark  

360 

WOK 

Potter,  Andrew  J  

..Syracuse,    N.    Y  

360 

WBAB 

Pomona  Fixture   &   Wiring   Co... 

..Pomona.    Calif  

360 

KGF 

Portable   Wireless   Telephone   Co. 

...Stockton.    Calif  

360 

KWG 

Post  Dispatch  , 

,  ..St.    Louis,    Mo  

360 

KSD 

Precision  Equipment  Co  

.  .  Cincinnati.    O  

360,  485 

WMH 

Precision   Shop,   The  

..Gridley,    Calif  

360 

KFU 

Prest  &  Dean  Radio  Research  Lai 

b..  Long    Beach,    Calif... 

360 

KSS 

Public   Market   and   Dept.   Stores. 

.  .  Seattle,    Wash  

360 

KZC 

Purdue    University    

..West  Lafayette,   Ind.. 

360 

WBAA 

Radio  Construction  &  Electric  Co. 

..Washington.   D.   C  

360 

WDW 

Radio  Corporation  of  America  

..Roselle  Park.   N.   J... 

360 

WDY 

Radio  Service  Corp  

..Pittsburgh,   Pa  

360 

WAAX 

Radio    Service    Co  

..Charleston.    W.    Va... 

360 

WAAO 

Radio   Shop,    The  

,  .  .  Sunnyvale,   Calif  

360 

KJJ 

Radio   Supply   Co  

..Los    Angeles,    Calif... 

360 

KNV 

WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


Radio  Telephone  Shop.  The  
Register  &  Tribune,   The  

.  San    Francisco,    Calif. 
.  Des  Moines,   la  
.  New  Orleans,  La  
.  Hamilton,   O  

360 

360 
360 

360,  485 
360 
360,  485 
360.  485 
360,  485 
360,  485 
360 
485 
360 
485 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
485 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
485 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360 
360,  485 
360 
360 
360 
360,  485 
360 
360 
360,  485 
360.  485 

KYY 
WGF 
WBMA 
WBAU 
KLZ 
WHN 
WKN 
WFO 
WHQ 
KNJ 
WPJ 
WCAD 
WAAE 
WEW 
KGY 
WCAL 
WCAO 
KMJ 
KDYM 
WHW 
WJK 
WDT 
WSN 
WNJ 
KNI 
WCAN 
KDPT 
WBT 
WCAT 
KOE 
KJC 
WBAX 
WBAD 
WCK 
WFI 
KQY 
WBL 
WRW 
WAAP 
KYF 
WBAZ 
WAAB 
KLX 
WCAQ 
WAAC 
WRL 
WAAF 
WPO 
KQI 
WRM 
WLB 
WAAN 
KOJ 
WCM 
WHA 

Rep.jlican    Pub.    Co  

Ridgewood,    Times   &    Co  
Riechman-Crosby    Co  
Rike-Kumler   Co 

.  Ridgewood.    N.    Y  
.  Memphis,   Tenn  

Rochester  Times-Union    
Roswell   Public    Service   Co  
St.   Joseph's   College  

.Rochester,    N.    Y  
.Roswell,     N.     Mex  
.Philadelphia,   Pa  

St.  Louis  Chamber  of  Commerce... 
St.    Louis    University  
St.  Martin's  College  (Rev.  S.  Ruth) 
St    Olaf  College 

.St.    Louis,    Mo  
.St.    Louis,    Mo  
.  Lacey,    Wash  
Northfield    Minn 

Sanders  &  Stayman  Co  
San  Joaquin  Light  &  Power   Co  -p. 
Savoy  Theater  
Seeley,   Stuart  W  
Service  Radio  Equipment   Co  
Ship  Owners  Radio  Service  
Ship  Owners  Radio  Service  
Shotton  Radio  Co  '  
Smith.   T.  W  '. 

.  Baltimore,      Md  
.  Fresno,    Calif  
.San  Diego.   Calif  
.  East   Lansing,    Mich  .  . 
.  Toledo,   O  
.New   York,    N.    Y  
.  Norfolk.  Va  
.  Albany.  N.  Y  
.Eureka,   Calif  
.Jacksonville,    Fla  
.  San  Diego.  Calif  
.  Charlotte,    N.    C  
.Rapid  City,   S.    D  
.  Spokane,    Wash  

Southeastern   Radio   Tel.    Co  
Southern   Electrical   Co  
Southern   Radio   Corp  
South  Dakota  School  of  Mines  
Spokane   Chronicle   

Standard    Radio    Co  

.Los    Aneeles.     Calif... 

Stenger,   John  H.,   Jr  Wilkes-Barre,    Pa  
Sterling  El.  Co.  &  Journal   Ptg.  Co.  Minneapolis,    Minn.  .  .  . 
Stix-Baer-Fuller   St.   Louis,  Mo  
Strawbridge   &  Clothier  Philadelohia*  Pa  

Stubbs   Electric   Co  f  
T.  &  H.  Radio  Co  
Tarrytown   Radio   Research  Lab.. 
Taylor,  Otto  W  
Thearle  Music   Co 

.  Portland,   Ore  
.  Anthony,    Kans  
.  Tarrytown.    N.    Y  
.Wichita,    Kans  

Times-Picayune  Publishing  Co.... 
Tribune    Pub.    Co  
Tri-State   Radio  Mfg.   &  Sup.    Co.. 

.New  Orleans.   La  
.  Oakland.  Calif  
.  Defiance,   O  

.  Schenectady,    N.    Y... 
.  Chicago.  Ill  
.  Memphis,    Tenn  
.  Berkeley     Calif 

Union  Stock  Yards  &  Transit  Co. 
Un  ted   Equipment   Co  

Un  versity  of  Illinois  
Un  versity  of   Minnesota  
Un  versity  of  Missouri  
University  of  Nevada  
University  of  Texas  
University  of  Wisconsin... 

.  Urbana,    111  
.Minneapolis.    Minn  
.Columbia,   Mo  
.  Reno,    Nev  
.  Austin,    Tex  
.  Madison.    Wis.     . 

BROADCASTING  STATIONS 


87 


Villanova  College 

Wanamaker,  John   

Warner  Brothers 

Wasmer,    Louis    

Wenatchee  Battery  &  Motor  Co. 
Western    Radio   Co 


Western  Radio  Elec 
Westinghouse  Electi 
Westinghouse  Elect 
Westin.erhouse  Elect 
Westinghouse  Elect 


..Villanova,  Pa 

.  .  Philadelphia,    Pa.     ... 

..  New  York,  N.  Y 

. .  Oakland.   Calif 

. .  Seattle,    Wash 

. .  Wenatchee,  Wash 

Kansas  City,  Mo...... 

Los  Angeles.  Calif... 

East  Pittsburgh.  Pa. 

Chicago.  Ill 

Newark.  N.  J 

Springfield,  Mass 

Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

Washington,  D.  C 

Washington.  D.  C 


ric  Co 

c    Co. 

c    Co. 
Co. 
Co. 
West  Virginia  University.. 

White  &  Boyer  Co 

William,  Thomas  J 

Wm.   Hood  Dunwoody  Institute Minneapolis,    Minn.... 

Wireless  Phone  Corp Paterson.    N.    J 

Wireless   Telephone   Co Jersey   City,    N.    Jj 

Wortham-Carter  Pub.  Co.   (The  Star 

Telegram)    Fort   Worth,    Tex 

Yahrling-Rayner    Piano    Co Youngstown,    O 

Yeiser,   John   O.    Jr Omaha,   Neb 

Y.  M.  C.  A Denver.     Colo 

Zamoiski  Co.,  Joseph  M Baltimore.     Md 


360 

WAM 

360 

WOO 

360 

WWZ 

360 

KLS 

360 

KHQ 

360 

KZV 

360,  485 

WOQ 

360 

KOG 

360 

KDKA 

360,  485 

KYW 

360 

WJZ 

360 

WBZ" 

360 

WHD 

360 

WJH 

360 

WPM 

360 

WCAS 

360 

WBAN 

360 

WNO 

360 

WBAP 

360 

WAAY 

360 

WDV 

485 

KOA 

360 

WKC 

Glossary  of  Radio  Terms 


A.  C. — Abbreviation  for  alternating  current. 

'Acoustic  waves — Commonly  called  "sound  waves."  Waves 
due  to  expansion  of  a  solid,  liquid  or  gas  after  a  temporary  com- 
pression. Propagation  of  sound  through  water  depends  on  this 
class  of  wave.  In  air,  their  velocity  is  1090-1132  feet  per  second 
at  75  degrees  Fahrenheit. 

Aerial — That  part  of  an  antenna  system  composed  of  one  or 
several  wires  suspended  above  ground  and  insulated  from  all  sur- 
rounding objects.  Used  to  facilitate  generation  of  ether  waves 
for  radio  transmission  or  absorb  same  for  reception. 

Aerial  Insulation — Insulation  between  aerial  and  its  supports. 
Does  not  refer  to  any  covering  of  the  aerial  wires,  which  are 
generally  bare. 

Aerial  switch — A  switch  used  to  change  over  from  transmis- 
sion to  reception,  also  called  "change-over  switch." 

Aerial  wire — Wire  forming  the  aerial.  Carried  in  stock  by 
all  first  class  jobbers  and  dealers. 

Aerial  tuning:  condenser — Variable  condenser  in  antenna 
circuit.  Used  to  vary  oscillation  constant  of  antenna  system. 

Alternating:  current — Current  which  flows  for  a  short  period  of 
time  in  one  direction  and  then  reverses,  flowing  in  the  opposite 
direction  for  an  equal  period  of  time. 

Ammeter — Instrument  for  measuring  current  in  amperes.  It 
Is  connected  in  series  with  the  circuit.  Exists  in  a  variety  of 
forms,  the  most  common  of  which  depends  upon  the  fact  that  the 
force  a  magnet  exerts  depends  upon  the  number  of  ampere-turns. 
Therefore  the  greater  the  number  of  amperes  sent  through  its 
coils  the  greater  will  be  its  attraction  of  a  balanced  armature. 

Amp. — See   Ampere. 

Air  condenser — One  having  air  as  the  dielectric. 

Ampere — Unit  of  current. 

Ampere  hour — That  current  which  flows  in  one  hour  through 
a  circuit,  carrying  a  steady  current  of  one  ampere.  Is  equal  to 
3600  coulombs.  Ampere-minute  and  ampere-second  are  the  same, 
but  for  the  altered  time  value. 

Amplifier — A  device  used  to  magnify  small  radio  or  audio 
frequency  currents.  Several  of  these  devices  may  be  used  in 
series,  making  a  two  or  multi-stage  amplifier. 

Antenna — Same   as   aerial. 

Antenna  circuit — Consists  of  aerial  and  earth  connection, 
including  all  coils  and  condensers  which  may  be  between  these, 
forming  a  direct  path  from  aerial  to  earth. 

Arrester,  lightning: — (a)  A  lightning  switch  which  needs  to 
be  thrown  in  connecting  the  aerial  with  the  ground  wire,  (b)  An 
automatic  protective  device  put  in  the  circuit  to  carry  away  and 
discharge  all  charges  of  lightning. 

Batteries — "A"  Batteries  are  6-volt  or  12-volt  batteries,  used 
as  a  source  of  supply  for  vacuum  tube  filaments,  in  transmitting 
and  receiving.  "B"  Batteries  are  standard  22  to  27-volt  storage  or 
dry  cell  batteries.  They  are  used  as  a  source  of  supply  for  the 
plate  circuit. 

Buzzer — Similar  to  an  electric  bell  with  hammer  and  gong 
removed.  Used  to  adjust  receiving  detectors  by  exciting  the  local 
detector  circuit.  Also  used  for  tone  or  buzzer  modulated  trans- 
mission. 


GLOSSARY  OF  RADIO  TERMS  89 


Cage  aerial — One  consisting-  of  a  number  of  component  wires 
held  in  position  by  hoop  spreaders.  Used  during-  the  war  on  naval 
vessels,  because  of  the  facility  with  which  they  could  be  replaced 
when  shot  away  in  battle. 

Capacity — Power  of  containing-.  A  condenser  has  unit  capac- 
ity (farad)  when  a  charge  of  one  coulomb  creates  a  difference  of 
potential  of  one  volt  between  its  terminals.  The  farad,  being-  too 
large  for  practical  purposes,  the  microfarad  (one  millionth  of  a 
farad)  is  used,  or  a  micro  micro  farad  (one  millionth  part  of  a, 
micro  farad). 

Carrying  capacity — Amount  of  current  a  conductor  can  safely 
carry  without  becoming  unduly  heated. 

Cascade — Term  applied  to  a  number  of  pieces  of  apparatus 
connected  up  in  series. 

Choke  coils — Coils  wound  to  have  great  self-inductance. 
Usually  wound  over  an  iron  core,  composed  of  a  bundle  of  wires, 
or  laminated  sheets,  insulated  from  each  other  to  prevent  eddy 
currents.  Their  function  is  to  check  by  reactance  the  amount 
of  current  flowing  in  the  circuit.  The  choking  effect  is  called 
impedance. 

('hopper — Another  name  for  "tone  wheel."  A  mechanical  inter- 
rupter, usually  taking  the  form  of  a  wheel,  interrupting  radio- 
frequency  oscillations  to  make  audio-frequency  oscillations,  that 
is,  oscillations  audible  to  the  human  ear. 

Circuit — The  continuous  path  in  which  a  current  of  elec- 
tricity may  flow. 

Close  Coupling: — Exists  where  primary  and  secondary  of  oscil- 
lation or  receiving  transformer  are  very  close  together  when 
inductively  coupled;  or  if  directly  coupled  when  a  large  proportion 
of  the  turns  are  common.  Causes  great  mutual  inductance. 

Condenser — Two  or  more  sheets  of  metal  separated  by  an 
insulator  called  the  dielectric  which  form  a  collector  of  electrical 
potential  energy. 

Continuous  current — Direct  current,  D.  C.,  one  flowing  con- 
stantly and  regularly  in  one  direction.  In  practice  is  produced  bv 
an  arc  discharge  in  place  of  spark;  also  by  an  oscillating  vacuum 
tube  or  high  frequency  alternator. 

Counterpoise — An  artificial  "earth"  with  regard  to  the  aerial. 
Also  used  where  good  ground  connection  is  not  available. 

Critical  point — That  point  on  the  characteristic  curve  of  a 
crystal  or  vacuum  tube  detector  at  which  rectification  is  most 
complete. 

Crystals — Bornite,  Carborundum,  Copper  Pyrites,  Galena,  Tel- 
lurium, Iron  Pyrites,  Cerusite,  Perikon,  Silicon,  Sylvanite  and 
Zincite.  Used  for  rectification  or  detection  of  small  radio 
frequency  current. 

Crystal  detector — One  depending  upon  the  fact  that  certain 
combinations  of  metallic  crystals  or  of  crystals  and  metals  permit 
a  current  to  pass  more  readily  in  one  direction  than  the  other  thus 
having  a  rectifying  effect  upon  a  train  of  oscillations,  to  act 
upon  a  sensitive  telephone  receiver. 

D.  C. — Abbreviation  for  direct  current. 

Diaphragm — Thin  disc  in  a  telephone  receiver  unit  wkich  sets 
up  the  audible  sound  waves  from  vibrations  caused  by  the  periodic 
attractions  of  the  telephone  magnets. 

Direct  coupling — A  coupling  in  which  the  inductance  coils 
of  both  primary  and  secondary  circuits  are  metallically  connected. 
One  in  which  all  or  part  of  turns  are  common  to  both  circuits. 

Direct  current — Current  flowing  continuously  in  one  direction. 
Continuous  current. 

Donhle  pole  switch — One  which  simultaneously  makes  or 
breaks  two  wires  of  a  circuit. 

Down  lead — Lead  in.  Wire  connecting  elevated  portion  of 
aerial  to  the  receiver  instruments. 


ANTENNA 
OR  AERIAL 


LOOP 

ANTENNA 


GROUND 
CONNECTION 


WIRES  WHICH 

CROSS  WITHOUT 

MAKING 

CONTACT 


WIRES  WHICH 

MAKE 

ELECTRICAL 
CONTACT 


TELEGRAPH    KEY 


SINGLE     POLE 

SINGLE    THROW 

SWITCH 


SINGLE  POLE 

DOUBLE  THROW 

SWITCH 


DOUBLE  POLE 

SINGLE    THROW 

SWITCH 


-AAAA/W 


DOUBLE     POLE 

DOUBLE  THROW 

SWITCH 


TELEPHONE      JACK 


A    RESISTANCE 

OF 
FIXED  VALUE 


VARIABLE 
RESISTANCE 


IMPEDANCE  COIL  OR 

IRON  CORE 
"CHOKE  COIL" 


A  COIL  HAVING  A 

FIXED  VALUE  OF 

INDUCTANCE 


VARIABLE 
INDUCTANCE 

OR 
TUNING  COIL 


2    SLIDE    TUNING 
COIL 


A  VARIABLE 
INDUCTANCE 

OF  THE 
VARIOMETER     TYPE 


Electrical  Symbols. 


RECEIVING 
TRANSFORMER 

OF  LOOSE 
COUPLER  TYPE 


RECEIVING 
TRANSFORMER 

OF  VARIO 
COUPLER  TYPE 


AIR    CORE 
TRANSFORMER 


DIRECT 

CURRENT 

GENERATOR 


ALTERNATING 

CURRENT 
GENERATOR 


1 


TELEPHONE 
RECEIVERS 


MICROPHONE 


CRYSTAL  DETECTOR 


THREE     ELEMENT 
VACUUM     TUBE 

DETECTOR 
OR   AMPLIFIER 
A-FILAMENT 
B-PLATE 
C-QRID 


FILAMENT  OF 
VACUUM  TUBE 


GRID 
OF  VACUUM  TUBE 


LT 


VOLT  METER 


PLATE 
OF     VACUUM  TUBE 


IRON  CORE 
TRANSFORMER 


I   |  A  CONDENSER 

WATT  METER  1   | OF    FIXED    VALUE 


INCANDESCENT 
LAMP 


A  VARIABLE 
CONDENSER 


Electrical  Symbols. 


92  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


Electricity — From  Greek  word  "Elektron,"  meaning  amber. 
One  of  the  earliest  known  methods  of  producing  electric  charges 
was  by  rubbing  amber  with  silk.  The  word  was  first  used  by 
Dr.  Gilbert  of  Colchester  in  the  year  1600. 

Electron — Ultimate  or  final  particle  of  negative  electricity. 
An  atom  plus  an  electron  is  a  negative  ion.  An  atom  minus  an 
electron  is  a  positive  ion. 

Electron  flow — The  electron  emission  from  a  heated  filament 
in  the  vacuum  tube. 

E.  M.  P. — Electromotive  force.  Unit  is  volt,  which  is  that 
electric  potential  which  causes  one  ampere  to  flow  through  a 
circuit  which  has  a  resistance  of  one  ohm. 

Fading: — Phenomena  causing  distant  radio  signals  to  vary 
in  intensity.  Caused  by  atmospheric  conditions. 

Farad — See    Capacity. 

Galena — PbS.  A  natural  crystal,  sulphite  of  lead.  Also  called 
lead  glance.  Has  a  blue-gray  color  similar  to  freshly  cut  lead. 
When  heated  in  air,  becomes  lead  sulphate  (PbSo).  The  cubical 
crystal  is  a  non-potential  rectifier.  Most  sensitive  popular  crystal 
for  use  in  radio  reception. 

Grid — The  frame  of  wire  or  perforated  metal  plate  placed 
between  and  insulated  from  the  plate  and  filament  of  a  vacuum 
tube.  Also  refers  to  leaden  framework  holding  paste  of  storage 
battery  plates. 

Grid-Leak — A  very  high  resistance  used  in  shunt  connection 
with  the  grid  condenser  in  the  grid  lead  of  a  vacuum  tube  to 
allow  negative  ions  collected  on  the  grid  to  leak  off  to  the  fila- 
ment. Hard  amplifier  tubes  as  detectors  with  the  condenser 
require  such,  or  they  will  choke,  giving  no  signals,  and  a  put- 
put-put  in  the  phones. 

Ground  circuit — One  employing  earth  as  one  "wire."  The 
earth  is  generally  used  for  the  negative  or  return  side  of  a  circuit. 

Ground  wires — Wires   giving   connection    to   the  earth. 

H.  F.  Choke — High  frequency  choke  coil.  Similar  to  choke 
coil,  except  with  air  core. 

Henry — Unit  of  inductance.  That  inductance  in  a  circuit  when 
current  is  changing  at  rate  of  one  ampere  per  second  and  pro- 
ducing a  difference  of  potential  of  one  volt  across  the  induct- 
ance. 

Horse  power — Power  required  to  perform  550  foot-pounds  of 
work  per  second.  746  watts  equal  one  horse-power. 

Impedance  coil — A  coil  of  wire  wound  over  a  soft-iron  core. 
See  choke  coil. 

Inductance  coil — A  coil  of  wire  so  arranged  as  to  have  a  large 
amount  of  inductance. 

Induction — The  transfer  of  electric  or  magnetic  energy  from 
an  electrified  body  by  proximity  without  contact. 

Insulator — A  material  through  which  electricity  will  only  pass 
when  under  great  pressure,  in  many  cases,  apparently,  not  at  all. 

Kenotron — A  trade   name  for  a  rectifying  vacuum    tube. 

Key — The  transmitting  key  is  a  switch  by  which  the  primary 
circuit  of  transformer  may  be  readily  and  rapidly  made  and 
broken. 

Kilowatt — One   thousand  watts. 

Laminated — Composed  of  a  number  of  thin  plates  placed  one 
on  top  of  each  other  with  enamel  insulation  between. 

Lead-in — That  portion  of  the  antenna  circuit  from  aerial  to 
instruments. 

Lead-in  Insulator — Any  form  of  insulator  used  for  passing 
down-leads  of  the  aerial  through  the  roof  or  walls  of  operating 
room. 

Loaded  aerial — One  whose  electrical  length  or  frequency  is 
artificially  varied  by  adding  capacity  or  inductance,  or  both,  in 
series  with  the  antenna  circuit. 


GLOSSARY  OF  RADIO  TERMS  93 


Loading:  coil — An  inductance  coil  used  to  artificially  "length- 
en" an  aerial. 

Loop  aerial — A  large  coil  used  in  place  of  an  antenna  system 
to  intercept  radio  signals. 

Magnet — A  piece  of  iron  or  steel,  having  the  power  to  attract 
other  small  pieces. 

Megohm — One    million    ohms. 

Meter — Fundamental  unit  of  length  in  the  metric  system. 
Equal  to  39.37  inches.  Used  in  radio  for  the  measurement  of  wave 
length  or  space  covered  by  one  cycle  of  transmitted  electrical 

Microfarad — Mfd.  Practical  unit  of  capacity.  One-millionth 
of  a  farad. 

Modulation — Variation  of  amplitude  of  radiated  energy  from 
a  continuous  wave  sending  station.  May  be  done  with  buzzer, 
chopper,  microphone,  external  oscillator,  etc. 

Motor  generator — Consists  of  a  motor  directly  coupled  to  and 
driving  a  dynamo. 

Natural  wave  length — Length  of  wave  produced  by  aerial's 
own  induction  and  capacity.  In  single  and  parallel  wire  aerials 
horizontal  or  perpendicular,  wave  length  is  about  four  and  a  quar- 
ter times  the  length  of  meters  of  aerial.  In  a  T  aerial,  about  two 
and  a  half  times.  In  the  umbrella  type,  about  five  times. 

Ohm — Unit  of  resistance.  Resistance  offered  by  a  column 
of  mercury  at  temperature  of  melting  ice,  14,452  grammes  in  mass 
of  constant  cross  section,  and  having  a  length  of  106.3  cms.  Cir- 
cuit has  resistance  of  one  ohm  when  one  volt  is  required  to  force 
a  current  of  one  ampere  through  it.  Voltage  divided  by  amperage 
gives  ohms. 

Ohm's  law — Current  is  directly  proportional  to  pressure  and 
inversely  proportional  to  resistance  of  circuit.  Current  in  amperes 
is  equal  to  pressure  in  volts,  divided  by  resistance  in  ohms. 

One-stage  amplifier — Amplifier  in  which  one  vacuum  tube  only 
is  used. 

Oscillating;  current — Alternating  current  having  a  frequency 
of  hundreds  of  thousands,  or  even  millions,  per  second. 

Open  circuit — One  whose  extremities  are  not  connected  to 
each  other.  A  battery  is  on  open  circuit  when  it  is  neither  charg- 
ing nor  discharging,  i.  e.  idle.  Electrically  incomplete. 

Parallel — When  two  or  more  paths  are  open  to  a  current, 
they  are  said  to  be  in  parallel. 

Phantom  aerial — An  artificial  aerial,  consisting  of  concen- 
trated capacity  and  inductance  usetJ  to  test  a  transmitter  without 
radiating  much  energy. 

Phase — An  alternating  current  is  in  phase  when  maximum 
E.  M.  F.  and  current  are  reached  at  same  moment.  Two  things 
are  in  phase  when  they  occur  at  the  same  time. 

Phone — Abbreviation  for   telephone. 

Plate  circuit — That  circuit  in  a  vacuum  tube  receiver  in  which 
the  amplified  current  flows. 

Potentiometer— A  device  for  tapping  off  any  desired  fraction 
of  a  voltage  applied  to  its  terminals.  Distinct  from  an  ordi- 
nary variable  resistance,  inasmuch  as  it  is  shunted  across  circuit 
whose  potential  it  is  required  to  regulate. 

Quenched  gap — One  which  causes  a  quick  breakdown  of  the 
conductive  vapor  bridge  between  discharges  after  passage  of  a 
spark  by  cooling  of  the  electrodes.  Any  gap  which  does  this  may 
he  loosely  termed  "quenched,"  though  the  term  is  more  particu- 
larly applied  to  one  consisting  of  a  number  of  small  gaps  in  series 
between  comparatively  large  metal  disc  electrodes  which  radiat« 
the  heat. 

Quenched  spark — A  form  of  spark,  which  owing  to  the 
arrangement  of  the  discharger  extinguishes  itself  rapidly  after 
allowing  a  few  oscillations  to  pass,  thus  permitting  the  secondary 


94  WWJ— THE  DETROIT  NEWS 


or  aerial  circuit  to  oscillate  with  its  own  natural  frequency  with- 
out interacting  with  the  primary. 

Antenna  resistance — The  total  resistance  of  the  antenna  sys- 
tem, including  the  direct  current  resistance  and  A.  C.  impedance. 

Radiation  resistance — The  factor  determining  the  radiated 
energy. 

Radio-frequencies — Frequencies  higher  than  audio-frequen- 
cies, that  is,  over  ten  thousand  cycles  per  second. 

Radio-telephony — Transmission  of  speech  or  music  by  means 
of  electromagnetic  ether  waves. 

Reactance — The  impedance,  experienced  by  a  current  in  a  coil 
of  wire  other  than  the  ohmic  resistance  due  to  that  current 
reacting  on  itself  by  induction. 

Resistance — The  inherent  opposition  a  conductor  offers  to 
the  flow  of  an  electric  current.  The  unit  is  an  ohm  which  allows 
but  one  ampere  to  flow  when  one  volt  is  applied. 

Rheostat — A  variable  resistance  used  in  series  connection  in 
a  circuit  to  vary  current  flowing. 

Selectivity — Having  the  power  of  selecting  any  particular 
wave  length  from  a  number,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  others. 

Series — A  number  of  instruments  or  cells  connected  up  in  a 
circuit  so  that  the  current  must  pass  through  each  conductor 
successively. 

Sharp  tnningr — Exists  where  a  very  slight  alteration  of  the 
tuner  produces  a  marked  effect  in  the  strength  of  received  signals. 

Short  circuit — One  having  a  very  small  amount  of  resistance. 
To  cut  out  resistance  of  instruments  of  a  circuit. 

Silicon — Si.  Non-metallic  element.  Grayish  metallic  looking 
substance.  Fused  silicon  is  a  potential  crystal  rectifier  and  as 
such  is  used  in  contact  with  copper,  antimony,  arsenic,  bismuth, 
gold  and  steel. 

Slider — The  sliding  contact  used  for  varying  amount  used  of 
an  inductance  resistance  coil  or  potentiometer. 

Spark  gap — Generally  applied  to  a  gap,  about  1-64  inch, 
inserted  across  the  primary  coil  of  the  radio  receiving  set  to  pass 
static  charges  to  earth  without  damaging  the  set.  In  other 
words  a  safety  gap.  In  damped  wave  transmitters,  spark  gap  is 
the  generator  of  the  damped  waves  because  it  allows  the  second- 
ary condenser  to  build  up  a  high  potential,  then  break  down  the 
gap  and  discharge  an  oscillatory  current  until  the  condenser 
potential  falls  too  low  to  break  down  the  gap  resistance.  This 
oscillatory  current  produces  one  wave  train  in  the  aerial.  Other 
wave  trains  follow  as  the  condenser  builds  up  again  and  the 
process  is  repeated. 

Telephone  receiver — An  instrument  having  a  disc  of  soft  iron 
(diaphragm)  held  over  and  near  to  an  electromagnet,  whose 
windlings  are  such  that  very  weak  electric  currents  will  cause 
disc  to  be  vibrated,  attraction  and  retraction  of  this  diaphragm 
producing  audible  sound  waves.  Those  used  in  radio  generally 
have  a  permanent  steel  magnet  with  projecting  soft  iron  pole 
pieces,  which  serve  as  the  cores  of  the  electromagnets.  Thus 
the  diaphragm  is  always  slightly  attracted  and  even  a  weak 
current  passing  through  the  windlings  will  cause  a  considerable 
vibration  to  be  set  up. 

Telephone  condenser — A  small  capacity  condenser  used  to 
by-pass  radio  frequency  currents  around  the  telephone  receiver. 

Thermo-amnu'ter- — One  in  which  current  to  be  measured  is 
caused  to  heat  the  junction  of  a  thermo-couple,  the  voltage  so 
generated  indicating  strength  of  passing  current.  Should  not  be 
confused  with  hot-wire  ammeters,  which  are  much  less  reliable  or 
efficient. 

Transformer — An  instrument  similar  in  action  and  construc- 
tion to  an  induction  coil,  inasmuch  as  there  are  two  separate  coils, 
one  having  few  turns  and  the  other  many  turns,  placed  together 


GLOSSARY  OF  RADIO  TERMS  95 


to  permit  of  induction  and  having  a  common  laminated  core.     No 
core   is  used  when  employed  to   transform  radio  frequencies. 

Transmitter — A  device  for  converting  sound  waves  into 
electrical  vibration.  The  opposite  of  receiver.  Also  used  to  de- 
note a  set  of  apparatus  used  to  transmit  radio  signals. 

Tuner — An  instrument  capable  of  various  adjustments  of 
induction  and  capacity  in  the  receiving  circuit,  thus  permitting 
the  reception  of  widely  varying  wave  lengths. 

Tuning;  coil — An  inductance  coil  used  to  "tune"  a  circuit  in 
order  that  it  may  respond  to  oscillations  of  various  frequencies. 

T\vo-sta«e  amplifier — Amplifier   in   which  two   tubes  are  used. 

Undamped — A  train  of  oscillations  of  constant  amplitude. 
Having  no  damping. 

Unit   of  capacity — See  capacity. 

Unit  of  Potential — See  volt. 

Unit  of  resistance — See  ohm. 

'  Unit  construction — Individual  pieces  of  apparatus  assembled 
together  to  make  a  receiving  or  sending  set,  all  parts  being  inter- 
connected both  physically  and  electrically  by  means  of  standard 

Unloaded  aerial — One  having  no  added  capacity  or  inductance 
for  tuning  purposes. 

V.  T. — An   abbreviation  for  vacuum  tube. 

Vacuum — A  space  entirely  devoid  of  all  matter.  The  term 
is  also  lightly  applied  to  spaces  which  are  only  partially  devoid 
of  matter. 

Vacuum  tube — A  device  composed  of  cathode  (filament),  anode 
(plate)  and  grid  (auxiliary  anode)  enclosed  in  a  highly  evacuated 
glass  bulb.  Operates  as  a  rectifier,  amplifier  or  detector  of  small 
alternating  currents  when  the  cathode  is  heated  and  the  correct 
potential  applied  between  the  cathode  and  anode.  For  detection, 
the  bulb  may  have  a  small  gas  content  which  increases  the 
sensitivity. 

Vario  coupler — Term  broadly  applied  to  any  device  for  regu- 
lating the  amount  of  energy  transformed  from  one  circuit  to 
another  by  alternating  the  degree  of  coupling  between  these  two 
circuits.  Circuits  may  be  either  direct  or  inductively  coupled. 
Substitute  for  receiving  transformer  or  loose  coupler. 

Variometer — A  continuously  variable  inductance  made  by 
revolving  a  coil  within  or  near  another. 

Volt — That  electric  pressure  which  steadily  applied  to  a 
resistance  of  one  ohm  allows  a  current  of  one  ampere  to  pass. 

Voltameter — A  combination   of   voltmeter  and   ammeter. 

Voltmeter — Instrument  for  measuring  voltage  of  circuit. 
Connected  across  main  leads. 

Watt — Unit  of  electric  power.  To  find  power,  multiply  volt- 
age by  amperage.  Kilowatt  equals  thousand  watts;  746  watts  are 
one  electric  horsepower. 

Watt-hour — Commercial  unit  of  electric  work.  Is  work  done 
in  one  hour  by  current  of  one  ampere  flowing  between  two  points 
of  a  conductor  having  a  difference  of  potential  of  one  volt. 

Wave  changer — A  switching  device  used  to  rapidly  change 
the  length  of  the  wave  being  transmitted. 

Wave  length — Distance  between  two  successive  antinodes  in 
same  direction.  An  antenna  tuned  to  receive  is  determined  by  the 
length  of  antenna  circuit  and  loading  inductance  and  capacity. 

Wave-meter — A  variable  tuned  circuit  consisting  of  induct- 
ance and  capacity  in  series  with  an  indicating  device  to  show 
resonance  with  an  exciting  circuit.  Calibrated  in  meters  or  cycles 
(frequency)  for  determination  of  wave  length  in  sending  or 
receiving  station. 

Woods  metal — A  soft  alloy,  consisting  of  two  parts  lead,  one 
part  tin,  four  parts  bismuth,  and  one  part  cadmium.  It  melts, 
at  about  70  degrees  Centigrade  or  150  degrees  Fahrenheit. 


;*>? 


.    ......... 


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